Noel King

It will create a smoke-free generation.

Some younger Britons say the government is overstepping.

It's my body.

If I want to smoke, I can smoke.

So we have this sort of government intervention in terms of whether it's taxes or whether it's being like, no, you at this age, you're never going to be able to smoke, is really clamping down on it.

And presumably with that kind of legislation, other countries are likely to eventually follow suit.

Hmm.

I wonder about the social aspects of smoking.

Like you mentioned that during COVID people picked it up again.

I certainly experienced that.

One of the things was that I remember you're standing around outside.

You have to be outside if you want to talk to people.

You're on edge.

You're looking for something to do with your hands.

And it just feels very natural.

And then, and we all know this viscerally, then it becomes a habit.

Then it becomes, oh, those are my friends that go outside and smoke during, you know, lunch break or after the show.

What have you learned in your reporting about smoking as like a social activity?

Something that's very well known about Gen Z now is that they're quite isolated as a generation.

It's very like on the phone, Gen Z's like aren't going out and they're really struggling to meet people and make friends.