2022年12月15日 VOA慢速英語：新西蘭禁止子孫后代購買香煙

 

New Zealand passed a law on Tuesday to set a lifetime ban on buying cigarettes for any person born after January 1, 2009.
新西蘭周二通過了一項法律，對 2009 年 1 月 1 日之后出生的任何人終身禁止購買香煙。
 
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.
這意味著購買香煙的最低年齡將不斷提高。想要在 50 年后購買香煙的人需要證明他們至少 63 歲。違法者可能面臨最高 95,000 美元的罰款。
 
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.
但新西蘭衛(wèi)生官員希望在此之前吸煙率會大大降低。他們提出了到 2025 年使該國無煙的目標。
 
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.
該禁令是世界上最嚴格的新禁煙法的一部分。該法律將可以銷售煙草產品的商店數(shù)量從大約 6,000 家減少到 600 家。它還減少了吸煙煙草產品中允許的尼古丁含量。尼古丁是煙草中的一種成癮成分。
 
"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.
衛(wèi)生部副部長 Ayesha Verrall 博士在議會對立法者說：“沒有充分的理由允許銷售一種產品，而這種產品會導致一半的使用者死亡。”
 
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."
她補充說，“數(shù)以千計的人將活得更久、生活更健康，衛(wèi)生系統(tǒng)將因無需治療吸煙引起的疾病而節(jié)省 50 億美元。”
 
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.
新西蘭是發(fā)達國家中成人吸煙率最低的國家之一。經濟合作與發(fā)展組織 (OECD) 表示，在過去 10 年中，成年新西蘭人吸煙人數(shù)下降了一半，降至 8%。經合組織數(shù)據(jù)顯示，2021 年有 25% 的法國成年人吸煙。
 
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.
新西蘭土著毛利人的吸煙率仍然較高，約 20% 的人報告說他們吸煙。Verrall 說，新法律將有助于縮小毛利人和非毛利人之間的預期壽命差距。
 
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.
雖然大多數(shù)立法者支持新法律，但 ACT 新西蘭黨公開反對該立法。他們說，許多小商店將倒閉，因為它們將無法再銷售香煙。
 
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.
ACT 領導人布魯克·范維爾登 (Brooke van Velden) 表示，該禁令將創(chuàng)造一個非法市場并引發(fā)問題。“沒有人愿意看到人們吸煙，但現(xiàn)實是，有些人愿意，”她補充說。
 
Around the world, only Bhutan has a stricter anti-smoking law. The small Asian country banned cigarette sales in 2010.
在世界范圍內，只有不丹有更嚴格的禁煙法。這個亞洲小國在 2010 年禁止銷售香煙。