Smoking in New Zealand
In New Zealand, smoking is legal but subject to tobacco control regulations. Cigarettes are regulated as tobacco products and can be sold through retail outlets, including online sales and vending machines. The importation of cigarettes for trade is allowed with a trade license. Health warnings on packaging are mandatory, the legal minimum age for purchase is 18 years, and smoking in public places is subject to legal restrictions. A comprehensive ban on tobacco advertising is also in place. Cigarettes in New Zealand are taxed at a total rate of 82.78%, including an excise component of 69.74%. Data show that in 2024, the number of current smokers was recorded to be approximately 364,000 in New Zealand, corresponding to an adult smoking prevalence of 8.6%. In the same year, current smoking prevalence was slightly higher among males (9.7%) than among females (7.7%). In 2022, this prevalence was recorded to be 11.4%. In 2023, the adult daily tobacco smoking prevalence was reported to be 7.7%, with approximately 362,845 daily smokers. In 2021, smoking led to approximately 3,580 deaths in New Zealand, including 2,085 deaths among males and 1,495 deaths among females. In other words, tobacco smoking accounted for 10.38% of all deaths in the country in 2021, including11.78% of all male deaths and 8.9% of all female deaths.
Read articles from New Zealand
December 01, 2020 by odt.co.nz
Smokers offered free four-week course to quit
Smokers are being offered a "lifestyle upgrade" from Dunedin health professionals for free.
Te Kaika has started a new smoking cessation programme, which offers patients a four-week interactive course and support on their journey to becoming smoke-free.
About 30 people, including people aged from 21 through to 86, had already signed up to the He Manu Kokiri programme which launched last week.
Health improvement practitioner Sarah Redfearn said the name of the programme, which referred to a legend where a flock of birds helped each other to get to their desired location, was fitting as working together was what it was all about.
November 26, 2020 by newsroom.co.nz
Smokefree NZ - if not now, when?
Now is the time to demonstrate that the leadership seen during the pandemic can also be shown to address the other great public health challenges facing Aotearoa, write the University of Otago's Richard Edwards, Janet Hoek and Andrew Waa. [...] The Health Coalition Aotearoa has set out a framework of priority actions, including increasing taxes on alcohol and sugary drinks, restricting the promotion of alcoholic drinks and unhealthy food, removing nicotine from tobacco products, strengthening community input into alcohol licensing, and greatly reducing the supply of tobacco products.
November 25, 2020 by vapingpost.com
NZ Survey Indicates More Smokers Are Turning to E-Cigs to Quit Smoking
Lead study author Professor Richard Edwards from the University’s Department of Public Health, the study found that e-cigarette use was most common among individuals aged 18-24 years and among those who had recently quit smoking. The research also indicated, that between 2016 and 2018 the level of awareness, as well as the use of e-cigarettes, increased among smokers and those who had recently quit smoking. [...] the study comprised of surveys with 1,155 people between 2016 and 2017 and 1,020 people in 2018 (400 of them Māori) who smoked or had recently quit smoking.
November 25, 2020 by spotify.com
The Voices of the 5%
In this brand new episode of the Raupo Podcast, host Michael McGrady speaks with Dr. Marewa Glover about a brand new study that her Centre of Research Excellence: Indigenous Sovereignty & Smoking, in Auckland, New Zealand. [...]
November 11, 2020 by scoop.co.nz
All Workplace Vaping Stops Today, But Don’t Shun Vapers - AVCA
From today - 11 November - the existing prohibition on smoking inside workplaces will be extended to include vaping, but Aotearoa Vapers Community Advocacy (AVCA) says there are other areas vapers need to respect as well. “We encourage New Zealand’s 200,000 vapers to think a little more before they vape. The general rule is if you wouldn’t smoke there, you shouldn’t vape there. The likes of shopping malls, and around schools and childcare centres are a no no. At the same time, many councils have made their outdoor city centre areas and council parks vape-free as well,” says Nancy Loucas, AVCA co-director.
November 10, 2020 by scoop.co.nz
No Smoke, No Vape, No Youth Uptake
Asthma and Respiratory Foundation NZ (ARFNZ) have re-launched their youth vaping education website ‘Don’t Get Sucked In’ to align with the new vaping legislation coming into effect on 11 November 2020.
The Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Vaping) Amendment Act 2020 creates a framework for the regulation of vaping products to prevent youth uptake, while striking a balance between ensuring vaping products are available as a quit smoking tool for smokers when all Medsafe approved products have failed.
October 29, 2020 by nzherald.co.nz
The bad habits Kiwis find least attractive in their partner
A criminal past isn't a deal-breaker for Kiwis lovers, but the thought of smooching someone who has been smoking cigarettes is a solid yeah-nah.
That is according to a new survey which found that New Zealanders find smoking more unattractive in a potential partner than a criminal record, with a massive 38 per cent of Kiwis saying they detest the habit.
Psychologist Sara Chatwin says it's interesting to see how offensive Kiwis find smoking and says it "flies in face of the emphasis we put on good health".
October 19, 2020 by filtermag.org
Māori Women Benefit From a Harm Reduction Approach to Smoking
Smoking rates among Indigenous peoples have remained stubbornly high around the world, despite stigmatizing anti-smoking campaigns and massive increases in cigarette taxes. In New Zealand, a pack of cigarettes now costs the equivalent of almost $25 US.
Māori women are one of the most socially deprived groups in New Zealand, and have the highest smoking rate of any demographic there, at 36 percent. Pregnant Māori women are 35 percent more likely than the general pregnant population to be smokers. Māori men also smoke at a high rate of 31 percent.
September 18, 2020 by miragenews.com
Smokers increasingly using e-cigarettes to quit, survey shows
People who smoke are increasingly using e-cigarettes to try to quit smoking, a study by researchers at the University of Otago, Wellington, has found.
The researchers found that between 2016 and 2018 the level of awareness, as well as the use of e-cigarettes, increased among smokers and those who had recently quit smoking. The principal investigator of the study, Professor Richard Edwards from the University’s Department of Public Health, says e-cigarette use was most common among those aged 18-24 years and among those who had recently quit smoking.
September 17, 2020 by rnz.co.nz
New Zealand First aims to cut price of cigarettes to $20
Party leader Winston Peters announced the policy today, saying the party intended to stop punishing smokers with high excise tax and help them quit.
Peters says it will support ASH's surge strategy, making alternatives to smoking affordable and widely available.
He says the government's current Smokefree 2025 approach isn't working with the added contradiction and hypocrisy of holding a referendum on legalising recreational marijuana.
"We don't think that young and, particularly, poor people should be screwed any longer on this matter," he says.