It was announced this week that the government is proposing a discussion on the possibility of enacting a law that will ban cigarette sales to people born after a certain date which is yet to be established.

The idea is to create a smoke-free generation, and follows in the footsteps of New Zealand, which in 2022 introduced a law banning the sale of cigarettes to people born after 1 January, 2009, and the UK, which enacted a similar law last month.

In a public consultation document that was launched last Monday, the Maltese government indicated that it has similar plans. The measure, one of the many listed in the document, says as follows: “Initiate discussions at national level to ban cigarette sales to individuals born after a due date agreed by all stakeholders. This will positively impact the health of all future generations”.

It would be a big move if such an agreement was reached, and the law is eventually enacted. We all know the physical harm caused by smoking, and that the practice puts extra pressure on the health system and, worse, leads to premature deaths.

Over the past decades, the damage that smoking causes has been increasingly recognised, with efforts being made to encourage people to stop smoking and for youngsters not to start.

There was a time when cigarette companies used to sponsor sport competitions until this was banned. Equally important was the placing of messages and later photos on cigarette packets as a reminder of what smoking can lead to. Here in Malta, we have enacted laws that make it illegal to smoke in enclosed public places, restaurants and clubs in a bid to discourage smoking and protect the non-smoking population against inhaling second hand smoke. We also have laws against smoking in open areas frequented by children.

(Having said this, it would be good to know how much these laws are being enforced, and how many fines have been issued to people who disobey the rules.)

So an eventual ban on the sale of cigarettes to people born after a date that is yet to be established would be yet another important step in the right direction.

But it is bizarre to see a government taking this important decision at the same time that Malta boasts of being one of the first countries to legalise cannabis use for recreational purposes, even allowing users to grow cannabis plants in their own home.

On the one hand, we are embarking on the road to make it illegal for youngsters to buy cigarettes while at the same time exposing them to more cannabis use. Sooner or later, if this smoking ban comes to be, we will arrive at a point when people of a certain age will not be legally allowed to smoke cigarettes but will be free to smoke cannabis.

The country is sending a contradictory message which is hard to explain. We are normalising the use of cannabis while trying to de-normalise smoking cigarettes.

It’s so weird.