In a move that will make the year 2009 the new dividing line between generations, the UK parliament has passed a bill ensuring anyone born on or after January 1, 2009 will never be able to legally buy tobacco. Ministers hope this will create a 'smoke-free generation,' presumably one that finds other, more modern ways to be unhealthy.

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which began its journey on November 5, 2024, was approved by the House of Lords on Tuesday and will become law after receiving royal assent next week. The goal is to save lives, reduce the burden on the NHS, and eventually end tobacco sales altogether, breaking the cycle of addiction one birth year at a time.

The government's enthusiasm is backed by some sobering, and expensive, math. Smoking leads to 400,000 hospital admissions and 64,000 deaths a year in England alone. It costs the NHS £3bn for treatments and is estimated to carry a total societal cost of between £21.3bn and £27.6bn a year, mainly through lost productivity - a figure that really makes you wonder what could have been built with all that extra cash and manpower.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting called it a 'historic moment,' stating that prevention is better than cure and that this will 'save lives, ease pressure on the NHS, and build a healthier Britain.' The legislation also grants ministers the power to extend the existing public smoking ban to children's playgrounds and outside schools and hospitals, ensuring the air around our youth is filled only with the scent of damp grass and existential dread.

Public health advocates are thrilled. Hazel Cheeseman of Action on Smoking and Health called it a 'decisive turning point,' declaring the end of smoking 'inevitable.' Sarah Sleet of Asthma and Lung UK said it will stop the tobacco industry from 'wreak[ing] havoc on the lungs of the next generation.' The bill also aims to protect that generation from vaping, banning the branding and advertising of vapes and nicotine products to children.

Not everyone is celebrating with clean lungs, however. Some in the vaping industry warn the legislation could backfire. Richard Begg of VPZ The Vaping Specialist cautioned that 'overly restrictive measures... could unintentionally drive former smokers back to tobacco.' Mark Oates, founder of We Vape, stressed the importance of protecting vape flavours as an incentive for adults to switch, a plea for the right to keep things tasting like blue raspberry blast.