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May 05, 2021 by sciblogs.co.nz

The NZ Government is to be congratulated with its recent proposals for achieving the Smokefree 2025 Goal, especially with those for markedly reducing retail outlets and removing nicotine to make cigarettes non-addictive. If effectively implemented, these proposals could lead to major health gains, health system cost savings and reducing the unequal health burdens that Māori, Pasifika and low-income New Zealanders suffer. But a major missing part is national law-based smokefree outdoor areas.

April 16, 2021 by scoop.co.nz

“New Zealand smokers will who can least afford it will spend more on their habit and in turn do harm to those around them if the Government mandates lower nicotine in tobacco,” says ACT Social Development and Children spokesperson Karen Chhour.

“We knew this Government was dim but trying to wean smokers off nicotine by making them smoke more tar takes the cake.

“And we know Labour won’t cut taxes, so they’ll be increasing the tax on nicotine by a factor of 20, hitting poorer New Zealanders hardest.

April 15, 2021 by nzherald.co.nz

The Government is suggesting limiting the amount of nicotine allowed in cigarettes.

It is one of a number of proposals being put forward to meet its goal of making New Zealand smoke-free by 2025.

Others include restricting where cigarettes can be sold and creating a licensing regime.

The Government is also talking about creating a smoke-free generation, where people who are under 18 next year will never be able to buy cigarettes.

March 31, 2021 by rnz.co.nz

The Cancer Society has today launched a petition calling for a significant reduction in the number of stores that are able to sell tobacco. Between 3000 and 4000 shops sell tobacco in New Zealand, but the society would like that to drop as low as 200.

It said only drastic action can help the country reach its Smokefree 2025 goal, and combat health issues which kill up to 11 people a day. More than half a million adults are thought to be smokers in New Zealand, and each year about 4000 people die from smoking-related issues.

February 08, 2021 by nzherald.co.nz

People who felt distressed and lonely during the country's lockdown last autumn were three times more likely to smoke more, a new study has found. Dr Every-Palmer said people who felt lonely or isolated almost all the time were more than three times more likely to increase their cigarette intake than those who were never lonely. "This finding was not related to whether people lived alone or with others, which suggests living alone is not necessarily the same as being lonely," she said. "Future pandemic planning could also examine how people can retain feelings of connection."

February 05, 2021 by scoop.co.nz

Nearly a year since a Parliamentary petition on vaping flavours closed, and exactly six months since the Government’s vaping legislation was passed, the petition organiser has submitted a supporting supplementary submission at the Health Select Committee’s request. Despite the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Vaping) Amendment Act 2020 now in play, the Government could still opt to follow the evidence, not the emotion, when it comes to final decisions around the availability of vape flavours, says Nancy Loucas, co-director of Aotearoa Vapers Community Advocacy (AVCA).

January 27, 2021 by miragenews.com

Health authorities should develop targeted health messages for vaping product and e-liquid packaging to encourage smokers to switch from cigarettes to e-cigarettes and to prevent non-smokers from taking up vaping, a researcher at the University of Otago, Wellington says. Professor Janet Hoek, a Co-Director of the University’s ASPIRE 2025 Research Centre has led new Health Research Council-funded research analysing the impact of on-package messaging on e-liquids.

January 27, 2021 by nzdoctor.co.nz

Millions of vaping products imported into New Zealand will be required to display warning labels in te reo Maori if new Government proposals are implemented.

Under the new proposals, e-cigarettes containing nicotine would be required to carry a warning label advising of the potential for addiction to the product in both English and te reo Maori - similar to that found on cigarettes containing tobacco. According to latest Census data, 13% of Kiwis are regular smokers, however, this figure is significantly higher for Maori (31%).

January 13, 2021 by nzherald.co.nz

Vaping is touted as a lesser of two evils for smokers trying to quit - but a Kiwi scientist says there's much about e-cigarettes' long-term effects that we still don't know.

The University of Auckland's Dr Kelly Burrowes has now launched the most advanced study of its kind in the world, using human trials and state-of-the-art 3D computer models to get a precise look at what vaping does to our lungs. Worldwide sales of e-cigarettes have boomed around the globe over the past decade, and today an estimated three in 100 Kiwis use them at least once a day.

December 04, 2020 by vapingpost.com

A distributor of nicotine pouches in New Zealand, Miles Illemann, has previously explained that the product is more effective than e-cigarettes and that his company’s mission is helping New Zealand achieve smokefree status by 2025. “They just have such a high, proven effective rate. What we’re seeing in European countries is nicotine pouches have a success rate of 60-75 percent in getting people to quit smoking.” However, pointed out Illemann earlier this month, the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Vaping) Amendment Bill has banned the pouches, in what is a loss for tobacco harm reduction.[...]