New Zealand’s unique cigarette ban may be a model for other countries

When New Zealand officials announced a unique, comprehensive plan last week to effectively end cigarette smoking in their country, tobacco researchers and health policy advocates elsewhere around the world perked up their ears.

In fact, the policy is so sweeping that it could represent what experts refer to as the “endgame” in the fight against tobacco.

“New Zealand’s package in the endgame is an extraordinary and far-reaching set of measures that have always been talked about but never implemented,” said Geoffrey Fong, a researcher on tobacco policy at the University of Waterloo in Ontario. “That’s very exciting and potentially very powerful for the world.”