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
April 11, 2018 by odt.co.nz
Call to stop vaping in smokefree areas
The Cancer Society wants vaping prohibited in smokefree parts of Dunedin, saying e-cigarettes do not send the right message.
The suggestion came from Sophie Carty, the health promotion and advocacy manager for the Cancer Society's Otago and Southland branches, in a submission on the Dunedin City Council's 10-year plan yesterday. [...] smokefree areas of Dunedin should also be free of vaping and e-cigarettes, to protect people from "smoking behaviour''. [...]
April 09, 2018 by scoop.co.nz
Stop smoking services called upon to support vaping
Government funded stop smoking services will keep losing customers if they refuse to help people who want to try vaping, new research has found. The services are in a bind however because the legality of selling nicotine vaping products in New Zealand remains in doubt.
The previous National-led Government claimed nicotine vaping products could not be legally imported and sold in New Zealand, but late last year they promised new regulations [...]
February 01, 2018 by nzherald.co.nz
New Zealand survey finds stopping smoking main reason to start vaping
A survey of New Zealand vapers has found most people started smoking e-cigarettes to quit smoking - and for the majority, it worked.
The online survey, led by Dr Penny Truman from Massey University in 2016, recruited 218 people through vaping and smoking-cessation networks.
Almost all had been smokers, but three quarters no longer smoked, and the remainder significantly reduced their tobacco use. [...]
January 26, 2018 by scoop.co.nz
Tobacco companies resist excise tax increase
Tobacco companies resist excise tax increase and refuse to pass on increased costs
The excise tax on tobacco products increased on January 1 2018, but the increase hasn't been passed on to all retail products. New Zealand's largest Māori Public Health organisation, Hāpai Te Hauora, is concerned that this will limit the effectiveness of the tax increase to reduce smoking rates, and that tobacco companies should be forced to increase the prices of their products [...]
January 08, 2018 by vapingpost.com
New Zealand liberalisation faces delays, while bans and taxes continue to spread
Faced with exploding crime and a stagnant smoking rate, the New Zealand government is under increasing pressure to follow through on its promise to legalise nicotine-containing vapour products. However, the new government has been accused of dragging its feet over the move. One of the big stories of last year was the NZ government’s announcement that it planned to end the ban on nicotine liquids [...]
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