The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom wants to raise the legal age to buy cigarettes in England so that no one can do so.

LONDON (AP) — Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Rishi Sunak On Wednesday he proposed raising by one year each year the legal age at which people in England can buy cigarettes until it is eventually illegal for the entire population and smoking is expected to be phased out among young people.

Laying out your plan in the conservative party annual conferenceSunak said he wanted to “stop teenagers starting to smoke cigarettes”.

It is currently illegal to sell cigarettes or tobacco products to people under 18 across the UK.

Sunak’s office said the incremental changes would prevent children turning 14 this year and those who are now minors from legally selling cigarettes in England.

If Parliament approves the proposal, the legal change would only apply in England, not Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

“People start smoking when they are young. Four out of five smokers have started smoking by the time they are 20 years old,” she stated. “The vast majority later try to quit smoking…if we could break that cycle, if we could stop the onset, then we would be on our way to ending the leading cause of preventable death and disease in our country.”

The government said smoking will not be criminalized, and the gradual changes mean anyone who can legally buy cigarettes now will not be prevented from doing so in the future.

The number of people smoking in the UK has fallen by two-thirds since the 1970s, but some 6.4 million people in the country (or around 13% of the population) still smoke, according to official figures.

The British government raised the legal age for tobacco sales from 16 to 18 in 2007. This reduced the prevalence of smoking among 16- and 17-year-olds by 30%, Sunak’s office said.

Health experts have welcomed the Prime Minister’s plan to progressively raise the legal smoking age. A similar measure was approved in New Zealand last year.

“This government’s plan to introduce ‘smoke-free’ legislation could become its defining legacy, righting a century-old wrong, with tobacco products being the only legally available product that, if used as intended predicted, will kill more than half of its lifelong consumers. ”said Lion Shahab, an academic who co-leads the tobacco and alcohol research group at University College London.

Sunak also said his government would introduce measures to restrict the availability of vapes or e-cigarettes for children. It is currently illegal to sell vapes to children under 18 in the UK, but authorities say youth vaping has tripled in the last three years and more children now vape than smoke.

Officials will study options, including restricting flavored vapes and regulating packaging and store displays to make products less attractive to young people.

Shares of tobacco companies fell after Wednesday’s announcement. British American Tobacco, owner of Dunhill and Lucky Strike, saw its shares fall from roughly stable to down 1% immediately after the announcement, while Imperial Brands saw its shares fall 2.4% after Sunak’s speech.