[INVITATION] Smoke & Mirrors

The Legal Challenges to the Generational Tobacco Ban

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill introduces a globally unprecedented measure: a generational ban on tobacco sales, preventing anyone born on or after 1st January 2009 from ever legally purchasing tobacco products.

This ban infantilises one cohort of adults, discriminates on the basis of age and raises issues of intergenerational unfairness. Even people who have no intention of ever buying tobacco may feel discriminated against if someone a few years older than them has a right that has been withheld from them. The generational ban will create absurd situations, such as a 28-year-old being deemed capable of purchasing tobacco, while a 27-year-old not.

In this panel discussion, IEA Head of Lifestyle Economics Christopher Snowdon will discuss the principled and practical objections to the generational tobacco ban, former Lord Chancellor Sir Robert Buckland KBE KC will offer a legal perspective, exploring the ways in which the Bill may be vulnerable to legal challenge, and former Director of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) Clive Bates will provide his perspective on why the legislation is unworkable.

With profound implications for individual liberty, regulatory precedent, and the UK’s international obligations, this event will consider whether the Bill’s sweeping measures can survive legal and economic scrutiny.

Date: Thursday 3rd July 2025

Time: 17:30 - 19:30

Location: 2 Lord North Street, SW1P 3LB