Read articles from New Zealand
January 11, 2023 by spiked-online.com
The road to prohibition
Last month, the New Zealand parliament passed a law that will prohibit anyone born after 2008 from ever buying cigarettes. Nothing spreads so quickly in politics as an illiberal ‘public health’ policy, and so it was no surprise to hear Wes Streeting, UK shadow health secretary, announcing over the weekend that he is keen to copy the Kiwis. If elected, Labour will launch a public consultation on incremental prohibition.
In an interview with The Times last week, Streeting said that he ‘hated the smell of cigarette smoke growing up’. He also wants to clamp down on e-cigarettes, because he is ‘sick and tired of seeing young people congregating outside vaping shops’. [...]
January 05, 2023 by scoop.co.nz
Proposals Must Not Hit Smokers Desperate To Quit
“Kiwis need to have their say on the Government’s proposed measures aimed at youth vaping, with submissions closing on 15 March,” says Nancy Loucas, Executive Coordinator of CAPHRA (Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates).
Her comments follow Associate Health Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall launching a consultation document titled ‘Proposals for the Smoked Tobacco Regulatory Regime’.
As well as crunching combustible tobacco, proposals include tightening current restrictions on vaping product safety requirements and packaging. It also considers some restrictions on the location of Specialist Vape Retailers (SVRs) as well as reducing nicotine levels in disposable vapes.
December 19, 2022 by planetofthevapes.co.uk
NZ Minister Standing Firm
Associate Health Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall has done well not to get side-tracked by constant and unrelated attacks on vaping by MPs debating the smokefree amendment bill in Parliament, according to Kiwi Tobacco Harm Reduction (THR) advocates.
December 13, 2022 by bbc.com
New Zealand passes legislation banning cigarettes for future generations
New Zealand will phase in a near-total tobacco ban from next year.
Legislation passed by parliament on Tuesday means that anyone born after 2008 will never be able to buy cigarettes or tobacco products.
It will mean the number of people able to buy tobacco will shrink each year. By 2050, for example, 40-year-olds will be too young to buy cigarettes.
Health Minister Ayesha Verrall, who introduced the bill, said it was a step "towards a smoke-free future".
"Thousands of people will live longer, healthier lives and the health system will be NZ$5 billion (US$3.2 billion) better off from not needing to treat the illnesses caused by smoking," Dr Verrall said.
November 29, 2022 by scoop.co.nz
Ministry Of Health Not Striking The Right Balance With Vaping Regulations
The Ministry of Health is not striking the right balance between protecting young people from the harms of vaping and making vapes available for current smokers to use as a quit smoking tool says the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation of New Zealand.
The Foundation is concerned by recent comments from the Ministry of Health which reveal it has no plans to cap the number of specialist vape retailers or to reduce the nicotine levels allowed in vapes.
November 23, 2022 by snusforumet.se
Marewa Glover: Anti-tobacco zealot turned harm reduction advocate
Last winter, New Zealand introduced anti-tobacco legislation, the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Bill, with the aim of making the country smoke-free by 2025.
The bill’s most headline-grabbing aspect was a generational tobacco ban. Starting in 2023, anyone born on or after January 1, 2009, is barred for life from purchasing combustible cigarettes. Someone aged 14 when the legislation became law would therefore never be able to legally purchase tobacco.
November 18, 2022 by rnz.co.nz
Daily smoking rates at all-time low but remain high for Māori, figures show
The number of people who smoke cigarettes daily has dropped to an all-time low of 8 percent, down from 9.4 percent this time last year.
But figures in the Annual NZ Health survey show the daily rate for Māori is still far higher: 19.9 percent, down from 22.3 percent.
While there has been a reduction in tobacco smoking, tobacco and e-cigarette use continues to grow, rising from 6 percent last year to 8.3 percent this year, with usage highest among 18-to 24-year-olds
Māori public health organisation Hāpai Te Hauora said more work was needed to help the country get to its Smokefree 2025 goal of 5 percent.
November 15, 2022 by scoop.co.nz
Lung Damage From Vaping Doesn’t Stack Up – AVCA
“New Zealand’s Asthma and Respiratory Foundation (ARFNZ) is once again making health claims without providing any evidence. If they want their warnings to be taking seriously, they need to provide some proof,” says Nancy Loucas, co-founder of AVCA (Aotearoa Vapers Community Advocacy). [...] AVCA says ARFNZ should read the internationally published medical studies by Professor Riccardo Polosa. He is an award winning and renowned expert in respiratory health and Tobacco Harm Reduction (THR).
November 11, 2022 by scoop.co.nz
Vape Authors Hit Back On WHO’s Health Claims
Several leading international Tobacco Harm Reduction (THR) experts have compiled and published extensive research which slams the World Health Organization’s (WHO) official health claims about vaping.
Titled ‘The Subversion of Public Health: Consumer Perspectives’, the recently released white paper hits back at the WHO’s claim that ‘never-smoker minors who use ENDS (Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems) can double their chance of starting to smoke tobacco cigarettes later in life.’
November 08, 2022 by clivebates.com
Using models disconnected from reality to justify huge ‘endgame’ interventions
In this blog, we take a look at modelling used to justify ‘endgame’ legislation under discussion in New Zealand. Among other things, this would reduce nicotine in cigarettes and other tobacco available through legal channels to minimal levels. We find the modelling and data assumptions bear no relation whatsoever to the underlying processes and the effects that such legislation would trigger. Deep cuts in smoking are assumed as inputs to the model. Unsurprisingly, therefore, the model results show deep cuts in smoking, and this determines the resulting health benefits. But the assumptions have no grounding in reality and misinterpret and misuse trial findings.