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
October 19, 2023 by stuff.co.nz
Nicotine and cannabis vaping on the rise, according to Massey survey
The use of nicotine e-liquid vaping is increasing, a Massey University study has shown. The university released its third round of findings from its New Zealand Drugs Trends Survey which showed that while the use of no-nicotine e-liquid had decreased, nicotine e-liquid vaping was on the rise and levels of cannabis vaping were steady. [...] Dr Marta Rychert said, nicotine products were often used daily, while cannabis and no-nicotine vapes were used less frequently.
September 12, 2023 by biomedcentral.com
Effectiveness of nicotine salt vapes, cytisine, and a combination of these products, for smoking cessation in New Zealand: protocol for a three-arm, pragmatic, community-based randomised controlled trial
Combining short-acting nicotine replacement therapy with varenicline increases smoking cessation rates compared with varenicline alone, but not all people tolerate these medications or find them helpful. We aim to investigate the therapeutic potential of an analogous combination, by evaluating the effectiveness, safety, and acceptability of combining nicotine salt e-cigarettes with cytisine, compared to nicotine salt e-cigarettes or cytisine only, on smoking abstinence at six months.
September 06, 2023 by colinmendelsohn.com.au
Australia falls further behind in tobacco control every year
THE DECLINE IN SMOKING is 4-8 times slower in Australia than in New Zealand, Great Britain and the US over the last 4 years. Why? Australia has the highest cigarette prices in the world, plain packaging and extensive smokefree laws. However, Australia effectively bans the most successful quitting aid available: vaping nicotine. Vaping is readily and legally available in other western countries and is a major contributor to the accelerated decline in smoking
September 05, 2023 by rnz.co.nz
Ministry of Health admits incorrectly threatening vape retailers
The Ministry of Health has admitted it incorrectly threatened vape retailers for selling non-compliant products. In October 2022, in response to an inquiry from Fair Go, the ministry took the position that the smokefree regulations prescribed a maximum nicotine salt strength of 50mg/mL (28.5mg/mL nicotine strength) and threatened to cancel all products that did not comply. However, the regulations actually set the maximum nicotine strength limit of 50mg/mL.
August 25, 2023 by maxecig.com
New Zealand Issues Nearly 100 Infringement Notices to Offending Vape Stores Alone
(...) according to Ministry of Health data provided by the Official Information Act, fewer than 100 infringement notices have been issued to e-cigarette retailers since enforcement last year, resulting in a total of $42,900 in fines.
August 14, 2023 by bbc.com
New Zealand's Youth Vaping Crisis Clouds Smoke-Free Future
New Zealand is on target to becoming smoke-free by 2025. This means being cigarette and tobacco free and that's where vaping comes in. For long-term adult smokers, it's seen as a less harmful alternative but the flipside to that is the exponential rise and accessibility of vaping to teenagers and at times younger children.
According to data released last year, the number of teenagers in New Zealand who vaped regularly had tripled between 2019 and 2021.
July 18, 2023 by colinmendelsohn.com.au
Leading health experts urge lawmakers to reform vaping laws
FORTY FIVE LEADING TOBACCO TREATMENT, public health and addiction experts from Australia and New Zealand are urging lawmakers to listen to the Australian National Advisory Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ANACAD) ahead of Health Minister Mark Butler’s proposed vaping crackdown. In a letter sent to all state, territory and federal members of parliament today, Tuesday 18 July 2023, the experts fully endorsed the Council’s concerns about the proposed regulations
June 30, 2023 by tobaccoreporter.com
New Zealand Urged to Reject Australia’s Regulatory Model
The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) is calling on the New Zealand government to reject Australia’s approach to vaping and continue to follow the science and evidence.
CAPHRA has submitted comments on New Zealand’s proposals for the smoked tobacco regulatory regime, which include tightening current restrictions on vaping product safety requirements and packaging and reducing nicotine levels in disposable vapes as well as restricting the location of specialist vape retailers.
June 26, 2023 by 1news.co.nz
Govt criticised over confusing process to change vape rules
Health officials are proposing to change vape rules to set a maximum limit of 28mg/mL on the amount of actual nicotine a vape can contain, but the way Manatū Hauora, the Ministry of Health is going about it has triggered a fightback campaign from vape sellers and raised alarm among some health advocates. Last week, Manatū Hauoura launched a low-key, two-week submission process with a link to a survey. After questions from Fair Go, it has updated its reasons today.
The Asthma & Respiratory Foundation says many stakeholders had no idea this was underway and that the proposal would create three different levels of nicotine for vapes, sowing yet more confusion.
June 12, 2023 by 1news.co.nz
Fears confirmed: New data shows vape stores target poorest areas
On the streets of Ōtāhuhu in South Auckland, you don’t have to look far for a nicotine fix.
Its small shopping centre is home to 8 vape stores – two of them are side by side.
It’s a pattern repeated all over the country. The higher the deprivation of an area, the more specialist vape retailers it has.
A Sunday investigation has found nearly 10 times as many e-cigarette outlets in our lowest income communities as there are in the most well-off.
Health researcher Lucy Hardie has been studying the vape industry’s marketing strategies.