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
September 15, 2020 by scoop.co.nz
Webinar For Kiwi Vapers Attracts World-leading Experts
New Zealand’s 200,000 vapers are being encouraged to attend an online conference [...] “Over 10 years of scientific research shows that smoke-free nicotine products are at least 95% less harmful than combustible tobacco and have helped millions quit deadly smoking. As consumer groups, we now want to do all we can to influence public policy and reduce the enormous health risks and costs caused by cigarettes,” says Ms Loucas. Ms Loucas believes New Zealand vapers’ participation and input would be highly valued, particularly given Parliament has just passed legislation to regulate vaping, [...]
August 28, 2020 by nzherald.co.nz
Cigarette sales down as vaping up, End Smoking NZ says, but Smokefree 2025 target won't be met
Cigarette sales are plunging faster than any time before as smokers turn to alternatives like vaping - with 410 million fewer smokes sold annually than just two years ago.
Dr Murray Laugesen, a trustee of the End Smoking NZ charity, analysed tobacco company returns that are published by the Ministry of Health and found a remarkable drop in sales.
About 2132 million cigarettes were sold last year - 193 million fewer than 2018, and following a 217 million drop the previous year.
August 07, 2020 by nzherald.co.nz
Vaping law passes: Advertising banned, flavours restricted and illegal for under 18s
The "wild west" vaping industry has three months to get its house in order after a new law banning advertising and restricting flavours has finally passed under urgency.
It's taken 620 days to get the law over the line after Associate Health Minister Jenny Salesa promised to regulate the industry in November 2018.
It wasn't until this year she introduced the bill, which was voted through the House late last night - just before the final sitting day in this term of government.
Salesa blamed the delays on it being a "complex bill", and said it was the most significant change to the Smokefree Act.
July 29, 2020 by chron.com
WHO unveils Florence, the world's first digital health worker to combat smoking and COVID-19 myths
The World Health Organization has launched its first digital health worker, Florence. The digital health worker was created by a company in New Zealand, Soul Machines.
Because Florence is a robot, there is no potential health-related judgment involved.
Greg Cross, co-founder of Soul Machines, said in a video that “The lack of human judgment actually makes our digital people more approachable and potentially more helpful.” The primary purpose of the WHO initiative help convince one billion tobacco users to quit smoking. [...]
April 02, 2020 by spotify.com
Pushing Through Prohibition In a Time of Pain
Join Dr. Marewa Glover and tobacco harm reduction journalist Michael McGrady as they discuss the exploitation of the COVID-19 pandemic as a means to implement prohibition measures for restricting tobacco and alcohol access across the nation of New Zealand in a new interview. [...]
March 20, 2020 by scoop.co.nz
A Chance To Clear The Air With New Vaping Rules
The Health Coalition Aotearoa welcomes the Government's leadership in outlining vaping regulations and recognising widespread concerns about vape marketing. These regulations recognise vapes could help smokers move to a less harmful source of nicotine while also acknowledging we must protect children from getting hooked on nicotine.
The Smokefree Expert Advisory Group of the Health Coalition Aotearoa, an umbrella organisation for the health advocacy, healthcare and academic sectors, congratulates the government on introducing this needed legislation.
March 03, 2020 by scoop.co.nz
Kiwi vaping advocate takes on WHO’s tobacco stance
A well-known New Zealand vaping advocate has returned from the Philippines resolute that the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) steadfast position of tobacco control, not harm reduction, is costing considerable lives globally.
Nancy Loucas, Executive Director for CAPHRA (Coalition of Asia-Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates), says tobacco use causes one million deaths a year in the Asia-Pacific region alone, and the rights of consumers using smoke-free alternatives need to be respected.
January 22, 2020 by thelancet.com
Use of e-cigarettes and smoked tobacco in youth aged 14–15 years in New Zealand: findings from repeated cross-sectional studies (2014–19)
Media reports of a vaping epidemic among youth have raised concerns about the creation of a new generation of nicotine-dependent individuals who could graduate to cigarette smoking. We investigated the use of e-cigarettes and cigarettes in the youth of New Zealand from 2014 to 2019, with focus on daily use of these products as an indicator of potential dependence. We analysed data from the Action for Smokefree 2025 Year-10 survey, an annual cross-sectional survey of tobacco use undertaken by almost half of all school students aged 14–15 years (21 504–31 021 students). [...]
January 14, 2020 by thespinoff.co.nz
What’s the deal with Snus – the smokeless nicotine in a pouch?
Basically, the major selling point for snus is that it’s a way of getting a nicotine hit, without also having to actually take smoke into your lungs. That can mean a significant amount of harm reduction, as much of the damage of smoking comes from inhaling the smoke itself. It also makes nicotine consumption possible any time, anywhere. In theory, vaping inside workplaces isn’t banned like smoking is, but in practice many organisations and venues don’t allow it.
December 19, 2019 by medicalxpress.com
Researchers: Remove profit motive from tobacco to deal with mass addiction
Governments worldwide need to create non-profit supply systems for tobacco and nicotine products because of their potential to cause significant and avoidable harm, researchers from the University of Otago say. [...] the researchers argue that tobacco and nicotine products should not be treated as normal consumer products, because of their addictive and hazardous nature.
Lead author Associate Professor George Thomson from the University of Otago, Wellington, says that while nicotine products, such as those used in vaping, are less harmful than tobacco, both are addictive.