2022年12月15日 VOA慢速英语：新西兰禁止子孙后代购买香烟

 

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，对 2009 年 1 月 1 日之后出生的任何人终身禁止购买香烟。
 
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不断提高。想要在 50 年后购买香烟的人需要证明他们至少 63 岁。违法者可能面临最高 95,000 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.
但新西兰卫生官员希望在此之前吸烟率会大大降低。他们提出了到 2025 年使该国无烟的目标。
 
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.
该禁令是世界上最严格的新禁烟法的一部分。该法律将可以销售烟草产品的商店数量从大约 6,000 家减少到 600 家。它还减少了吸烟烟草产品中允许的尼古丁含量。尼古丁是烟草中的一种成瘾成分。
 
"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.
卫生部副部长 Ayesha Verrall 博士在议会对立法者说：“没有充分的理由允许销售一种产品，而这种产品会导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."
她补充说，“数以千计的人将活得更久、生活更健康，卫生系统将因无需治疗吸烟引起的疾病而节省 50 亿美元。”
 
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.
新西兰是发达国家中成人吸烟率最低的国家之一。经济合作与发展组织 (OECD) 表示，在过去 10 年中，成年新西兰人吸烟人数下降了一半，降至 8%。经合组织数据显示，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，约 20% 的人报告说他们吸烟。Verrall 说，新法律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.
虽然大多数立法者支持新法律，但 ACT 新西兰党公开反对该立法。他们说，许多小商店将倒闭，因为它们将无法再销售香烟。
 
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.
ACT 领导人布鲁克·范维尔登 (Brooke van Velden) 表示，该禁令将创造一个非法市场并引发问题。“没有人愿意看到人们吸烟，但现实是，有些人愿意，”她补充说。
 
Around the world, only Bhutan has a stricter anti-smoking law. The small Asian country banned cigarette sales in 2010.
在世界范围内，只有不丹有更严格的禁烟法。这个亚洲小国在 2010 年禁止销售香烟。