this post was submitted on 21 Apr 2026
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  • Technically, the new law will raise the legal age requirement in the UK for buying cigarettes, cigars or tobacco, which is currently 18, by one year in every subsequent year, starting on January 1, 2027
  • This will effectively mean that people born on or after January 1, 2009 will never be eligible to buy them
  • Retailers will face financial penalties for selling the products to those not entitled to them
  • The government will also be empowered to impose a new registration system for smoking and vaping products entering the country, seeking to improve oversight
  • The bill will expand the UK's indoor smoking ban to a series of outdoor public spaces, for instance in children's playgrounds, outside schools and hospitals
  • Most indoor spaces that are designated smoke-free will become vape-free as well
  • Smoking in designated areas outside pubs and bars and other hospitality settings will remain permissible
  • Smoking and vaping will remain legal in people's homes
  • Vaping will become illegal in cars if someone under the age of 18 is inside, to match existing rules on smoking
  • Advertising for smoking and vaping products will be banned
  • People aged 18 or older will remain eligible to purchase vaping products, but some items targeted at younger consumers like disposable vapes have already been outlawed as part of the program
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[–] sturmblast@lemmy.world 9 points 2 days ago (3 children)

You've obviously never been a nicotine addict. Nothing you said here would have stopped me from getting my drug, before I quit

[–] horse@feddit.org 16 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I started smoking when I was 14. Smoked a pack a day for a while, smoked my last in my thirties.

The point of a rolling ban isn't meant to make you quit, it's to stop people from starting and it will work. Not for everyone, but for a lot of people it will.

[–] sturmblast@lemmy.world -5 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (5 children)

Its taking away personal freedoms and works against a free market. Keep the government out of your personal choices.

[–] sturmblast@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

Funny how many folks on lemmy are anti-freedom.. you folks are nuts

[–] horse@feddit.org 10 points 2 days ago

Oh no, not the free market!

[–] zalgotext@sh.itjust.works 5 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Where's your line between "keeping the government out of your personal choices" vs. "regulations that keep us safe"? Like, I'm sure you're ok with regulations that keep poisons like lead, arsenic, etc. out of consumable goods, right?

I kinda agree with the other commenter that said all drugs should be legalized, but also, I've had close personal experiences with how addictive and harmful nicotine is, so I can also understand why it would be the target of bans.

[–] sturmblast@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Things that you choose to consume aren't the same as utilities.

[–] zalgotext@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Mkay but food isn't a utility, and neither are cigarettes/cigars/vapes/etc, so I don't really understand what you're getting at here

[–] sturmblast@lemmy.world -1 points 2 days ago (2 children)

End of the day it's a question of personal freedoms

[–] freedom@lemy.lol 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

My right to swing my bat ends at your face. There is an interface where personal freedoms need to be restricted unless you don’t mind living in fear 24/7.

[–] zalgotext@sh.itjust.works 0 points 2 days ago

Then why did you bring up utilities

[–] shani66@ani.social 0 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

You choose to smoke. If someone wants to buy sawdust to put into their bread separately that's fine. regulations are to stop a market from poisoning the base product, if the product is poison then it's on the consumer.

[–] yermaw@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Im all for that, honestly, but lets include all the drugs

[–] Armok_the_bunny@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

If the free market is so great where are the free market roads, or the free market fire fighters, or the free market court systems, or the free market affordable health care?

[–] sturmblast@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

.... okay.. so let's mix in local government, taxes, and legal systems?

I don't even know what to say

[–] freedom@lemy.lol 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Your take is very absolutist. If you’ve never smoked a cigarette, you might not realize how powerful the pull is. It’s not a normal craving. It takes over every free thought when it hits. It changes your brain in specific areas identifiable on brain scans. This shit is sugar coated poison.

[–] sturmblast@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

I smoked for 20 years, I also I have had other addictions.. changes nothing

[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 4 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

But governments will continue to allow nicotine delivery devices like vapes and pouches.

They should be banning nicotine as a controlled drug. Take nicotine out and people will see no reason to smoke or vape. It's been government sanctioned addiction for over 100 years.

[–] dogslayeggs@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

You are looking at it from the perspective of someone who is already addicted, not from the perspective of an entire population of people who have never had access to legal cigarettes. This isn't for people who are already addicted. This is to achieve fewer people from becoming addicted.

Yes, statistics show most smokers start smoking before the age of 16, so obtaining cigarettes legally isn't stopping them. But the sheer number of smokers dropped when it became harder to find places to smoke after bar/restaurant/public area bans. It's interesting looking at the trends of smokers over time. Adult use in the US has held a VERY consistent downward trend since the 1970s, holding around the same slope for 50 years. However, youth use dropped significantly right around the time cities and states implemented smoking bans in bars/restaurants/public areas. That is correlation, not necessarily causation, so I am not claiming it as fact.

I will say it is absolutely jarring to travel to Europe from the US. I travel a lot, and going from a city where very few people smoke (well, they smoke, just not tobacco) to almost any city in Europe is a shock to my nose. It doesn't stop me visiting Europe every year, but man it does make walking on the streets there less enjoyable.

[–] sturmblast@lemmy.world -2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

I believe in the freedom to choose what I do with my own body, Period.

[–] dogslayeggs@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago (3 children)

While negatively impacting everyone around you.

[–] shani66@ani.social -2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

You favorite food negatively impacts me, it stinks and it needs to be banned. See how dumb that sounds?

[–] dogslayeggs@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

You're right, you do sound dumb saying that. Mostly because of how stupidly unrelated it is when you think you are sounding smart.

If you honestly can't understand the difference between your personal choice causing lung cancer in kids nearby you and you not liking the smell of my cheese pizza, then there is no point even talking to you.

[–] architect@thelemmy.club 0 points 2 days ago

People smoking in their homes is not impacting you.

If you live around people you must accept a level of smells and noise that offend you. That’s fucking life.

[–] sturmblast@lemmy.world -3 points 2 days ago

Cost of freedom