New Zealand passed a law on Tuesday to set a lifetime ban on buying cigarettes for any person born after January 1, 2009.
新西兰周二通过了一项法案，终身禁止2009年1月1日之后出生的人士购买香烟。
This means that the minimum age for buying cigarettes will keep going up and up. And someone trying to buy cigarettes 50 years from now would need to show that they were at least 63 years old. Those who violate the law could face fines of up to $95,000.
这意味着购买香烟的最低年龄将会越来越大。50年后想要购买香烟的人士需要证明自己至少63岁。违法者将面临最高9.5万美元的罚款。
But New Zealand health officials hope smoking will decrease well before then. They have stated a goal of making the country smoke-free by 2025.
但是新西兰卫生官员希望在那之前，吸烟会大大减少。他们提出了到2025年实现全国禁烟的目标。
The ban is part of the new anti-smoking laws that are among the strictest in the world. The law reduces the number of shops that can sell tobacco products from about 6,000 to 600. It also decreases the amount of nicotine permitted in smoked tobacco products. Nicotine is an addictive element in tobacco.
该禁令是这项全球最严格的新禁烟法案的一部分。该法案将可销售烟草制品的商店数量从6000家左右减少到600家。它同时也降低了允许在香烟制品中使用的尼古丁含量。尼古丁是烟草中的一种成瘾元素。
"There is no good reason to allow a product to be sold that kills half the people that use it," Associate Minister of Health Dr. Ayesha Verrall told lawmakers in Parliament.
卫生部副部长阿耶莎·维拉尔博士在议会对议员们表示：“没有道理要允许销售一种杀死一半使用者的产品。”
She added, "thousands of people will live longer, healthier lives and the health system will be $5 billion better off from not needing to treat the illnesses caused by smoking."
她还表示：“成千上万人将活得更久、更健康，卫生系统也将省下50亿元，因为无需再投入治疗那些因吸烟引发的疾病。”
New Zealand has one of the lowest adult smoking rates among developed countries. The Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD, said the number of adult New Zealanders smoking fell by half over the past 10 years to eight percent. And OECD data shows 25 percent of French adults smoked in 2021.
新西兰是发达国家中成人吸烟率最低的国家之一。经合组织表示，在过去10年中，新西兰成年人吸烟人数下降了1半，降至8%。经合组织的数据显示，2021年，有25%的法国成年人吸烟。
Smoking rates remain higher among the indigenous Māori in New Zealand, with about 20 percent reporting they smoked. Verrall said the new laws would help close the life expectancy gap between Maori and non-Maori citizens.
新西兰土著毛利人的吸烟率仍然较高，大约有20%的人表示他们吸烟。维拉尔表示，新法案将有助于缩小毛利人和非毛利人之间的预期寿命差距。
While most lawmakers support the new laws, the ACT New Zealand party spoke out against the legislation. They said many small stores would go out of business because they would no longer be able to sell cigarettes.
虽然大多数议员支持这项新法案，但是新西兰行动党表示反对这项立法。他们表示，许多小商店将会停业，因为它们无法再销售香烟。
Brooke van Velden, a leader of ACT, said the ban would create an illegal market and cause problems. "No one wants to see people smoke, but the reality is, some will," she added.
新西兰行动党领导人布鲁克·维尔登表示，这项禁令将会制造出一个非法市场，并引发问题。她还表示：“没人愿意看到有人吸烟，但事实是，有些人会这样做。”
Around the world, only Bhutan has a stricter anti-smoking law. The small Asian country banned cigarette sales in 2010.
全球范围内，只有不丹有更严格的禁烟法。这个亚洲小国于2010年禁止香烟销售。
I'm Andrew Smith.
我是安德鲁·史密斯。(51VOA.COM原创翻译，请勿转载，违者必究！)