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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律，规定2009年1月1日以后出生的人终身禁止购买香烟。
This means that the minimum age for buying cigarettes will keep going up and up.
这意味着合法购买香烟的最低年龄将不断提高。
And someone trying to buy cigarettes 50 years from now would need to show that they were at least 63 years old.
从现在起50年后想要购买香烟的人需要证明他们至少63岁了。
Those who violate the law could face fines of up to $95,000.
违反这项法律的人可能会面临高达9.5万美元的罚款。
But New Zealand health officials hope smoking will decrease well before then.
但新西兰卫生官员希望在那之前吸烟人数就会减少。
They have stated a goal of making the country smoke-free by 2025.
他们提出了到2025年实现全国无烟化的目标。
The ban is part of the new anti-smoking laws that are among the strictest in the world.
这项禁令是世界上最严格的新反吸烟法的一部分。
The law reduces the number of shops that can sell tobacco products from about 6,000 to 600.
该法律将能够销售烟草产品的商店数量从大约6000家减少到600家。
It also decreases the amount of nicotine permitted in smoked tobacco products.
新法律还降低了烟草产品中尼古丁的合法含量。
Nicotine is an addictive element in tobacco.
尼古丁是烟草中含有的一种令人上瘾的成分。
"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.
新西兰卫生部副部长阿耶莎·维拉尔博士在议会上对立法者说：“没有充分的理由允许商家销售一种导致一半使用者死亡的产品。”
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."
她还说，“成千上万的人将会活得更长、更健康，由于不需要治疗由吸烟引起的疾病，医疗系统将节省50亿美元。”
New Zealand has one of the lowest adult smoking rates among developed countries.
新西兰是发达国家中成人吸烟率最低的国家之一。
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.
经济合作与发展组织表示，在过去十年里，新西兰成人吸烟者的人数减少了一半，降至8%。
And OECD data shows 25 percent of French adults smoked in 2021.
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.
新西兰原住民毛利人的吸烟率仍然较高，约有20%的人表示他们吸烟。
Verrall said the new laws would help close the life expectancy gap between Maori and non-Maori citizens.
维拉尔说，新法律将有助于缩小毛利人和非毛利人公民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.
虽然大多数议员支持新法律，但新西兰行动党公开反对这项立法。
They said many small stores would go out of business because they would no longer be able to sell cigarettes.
他们说，由于无法再销售香烟，许多小商店将会倒闭。
Brooke van Velden, a leader of ACT, said the ban would create an illegal market and cause problems.
新西兰行动党的一名领导人布鲁克·范·维尔登表示，这项禁令将创造一个非法市场并引发问题。
"No one wants to see people smoke, but the reality is, some will," she added.
她还说：“没有人想看到人们吸烟，但现实是，有些人想”。
Around the world, only Bhutan has a stricter anti-smoking law.
全世界只有不丹有更严格的反吸烟法。
The small Asian country banned cigarette sales in 2010.
这个亚洲小国在2010年禁止销售香烟。
I'm Andrew Smith.
安德鲁·史密斯为您播报。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
