New Zealand's plan to end smoking: A lifetime ban for youth

The plan sets a goal of having fewer than 5% of New Zealanders smoking by 2025.

Wellington: New Zealand's government believes it has come up with a unique plan to end tobacco smoking - a lifetime ban for those aged 14 or younger.

Under a new law the government announced Thursday and plans to pass next year, the minimum age to buy cigarettes would keep rising year after year.

That means, in theory at least, 65 years after the law takes effect, shoppers could still buy cigarettes - but only if they could prove they were at least 80 years old.