Tobacco ruins lives, leading to over 400,000 hospital admissions a year, and ultimately kills two in three lifetime smokers.

Over the coming weeks, MPs (议员) will debate new laws to create a “smoke-free generation”, meaning no one born on or after 1 January, 2009, can be legally sold a cigarette. This is a truly transformative piece of public health policy that could see an end to tobacco use in England.

The policy will see the legal age for being sold tobacco rise by one year each year from 2027. While the proposed age increase approach is novel, we know that raising the age of purchasing works. Smoking rates dropped by 30 per cent among young people within a year when the legal age increased from 16 to 18 in 2007. The drop was closer to 40 per cent among the target age group when it was raised from 18 to 21 in the US.

There are concerns among some that the new policy could drive an illegal market, but the evidence doesn’t back this up.

Since 2000 the illegal market for tobacco has declined from 22 per cent to 11 per cent despite raising the age of purchasing to 18, banning smoking in public places, introducing plain packaging, and continued price rises. Furthermore, the focus of the policy is to prevent people taking up smoking — no one who can currently buy tobacco will be unable to do so — making it unlikely there will be an increased demand for illegal tobacco.

Online sales may also present their own difficulty as the new policy comes into force, with digital retailers (零售商) having responsibility to check on the age of customers remotely. The government is promising “enhancing online age verification (验证)” but it would be far simpler to ban online tobacco sales altogether, as recommended in a recent independent government review.

Java’s Cafe is a fundamental extension of the Rochester experience, opening its arms to comfort coffee, tea, and dessert lovers alike. For the typical UR students, the Java’s on Gibbs St. has become a place of solace during stressful testing times, and on more heartwarming occasions, a social hub.

Slowly approaching its thirties, Java’s has enjoyed a good reputation in its local. In 1978, Java Joe created a coffee farm in Hawaii. With great dedication to his craft, the great master of coffee beans made his way to Rochester then. In 1992, Joe decided to start selling coffee at the Public Market and opened up a store on Gibbs St. with the help of Michael Calabrese. This location, next to the Eastman School of Music, is the first of many shops Java Joe opened. As a lover of the blues, Joe enthusiastically decorated this flagship store with artistic and musical influence.

After Gibbs location, Joe planted Java Joe’s where he was first starting out — in the Public Market. Later, Java Joe’s moved to a nearby building, and received a name change — Java’s at the Market Coffee Roasters. This building served as a place where those who visited would often catch a glimpse of Joe skillfully roasting his coffee beans in the dancing flames and cultivating his drinks with care. However, in 1997 he licensed “Java Joe’s” to Calabrese, who then renamed the Gibbs Cafe to what we know today — Java’s Café.

Joe remained in the Public Market location until he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Joe died of lung cancer at 68. The influence he had poured into his business is well-known and highly regarded. He has won many awards in his life.

The next time you head down to Gibbs St. for your morning cup, keep in mind the extraordinary story of how that cup came to be, all thanks to Java Joe.