New Zealand on Tuesday banned anyone born after 2008 from ever buying cigarettes or tobacco products.

The law will take effect in 2023 and is aimed at shrinking the number of people able to buy tobacco each year. By 2050, for example, 40-year-olds will be too young to buy cigarettes. Beginning next year, those under 15 will be barred from buying cigarettes for their whole lives.

The legislation is the result of a massive government undertaking, with the goal of making the country "smoke-free" by 2025, reports CNN.

"This legislation accelerates progress towards a smoke-free future," Dr. Ayesha Verrall, the country's associate health minister who also introduced the bill, said in a statement on Tuesday. "Thousands of people will live longer, healthier lives."

The new law will also slash the number of retailers licensed to sell tobacco from 6,000 to 600 by the end of 2023.

Violations of the new law are punishable by fines of up about $96,000.

In addition to lowering retail access and imposing fines, the legislation will also aim for restrictions on nicotine levels in tobacco products, hoping to render them less addictive.

"It means nicotine will be reduced to non-addictive levels, and communities will be free from the proliferation and clustering of retailers who target and sell tobacco products in certain areas," Dr. Verrall said in the statement.

The legislation has faced blowback from far-right lawmakers in New Zealand, who argue the ban will increase black-market demand for tobacco products and harm the businesses of smaller convenience-type retailers.

"This will drive up the trade of black-market tobacco with high nicotine, driving those addicted to cigarettes to turn to crime to feed their habit," Brooke van Velden, deputy leader of the ACT Party, wrote in a statement on Tuesday. "The gangs will be rubbing their hands with glee."

Notably, the new legislation does not cover vaping, which has grown exponentially among youth tobacco users.

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