UK plans lifetime cigarette ban for anyone born after 2008

Children aged 17 and under in Britain will be permanently blocked from ever legally buying cigarettes under new legislation being introduced in the United Kingdom.

A bill, which has now passed through both houses of Parliament, is part of a wider push to create what leaders are calling a 'smoke-free generation'.

"This is part of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill cleared by Parliament," explained Primedia digital editor Barbara Friedman.

The Bill states that anyone born after 2008 will never be allowed to purchase tobacco products.

"If you are born after 2008... no matter how old you get from now on forth, you may not go into a shop and legally buy cigarettes."

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British Health Secretary Victoria Atkins said the move is designed to 'break the cycle of addiction before it starts.'

But Friedman wonders whether the introduction of the laws could have some unintended consequences, and she's not alone.

"People online are saying they just opened a black market...drug dealers are about to become cig dealers."

Official figures indicate that smoking is responsible for approximately one in four cancer deaths, resulting in 64,000 fatalities annually in England.

To listen to Friedman in conversation with CapeTalk's Clarence Ford, click the audio below.