Read articles from New Zealand
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.
May 23, 2023 by scoop.co.nz
Industry Body Takes Aggressive Stance To Combat Youth Vaping
Smokefree New Zealand is intrinsically linked to providing smokers with products containing the right nicotine levels to help them quit. The 2021 regulations imposed a nicotine strength cap of 50mg/ml nicotine strength, which has been vital in assisting smokers with readily accessible products in market that deliver a similar level of nicotine to cigarettes. We have had tremendous success with reduction in tobacco smoking rates due to the strength of vaping products readily available in market and according to Action for Smokefree 2023 (ASH), in the past six years vaping has contributed to the drop in the number of New Zealanders smoking daily from 14.5% to 8% for adults and 1% for young people.
February 02, 2023 by theconversation.com
Marketers are targeting teens with cheap and addictive vapes: 9 ways to stem rising rates of youth vaping
Existing regulations have not managed to reduce the rising rates of youth vaping in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Both the latest NZ Health Survey and Snapshot Y10 survey reported high levels of daily vaping among young people aged 18 to 24 (23%) and 14 to 15 (10% overall, but more than 20% among rangatahi Māori). Other studies and reports from school principals confirm we need urgent action to address youth vaping.
But what measures should policymakers implement? To answer this question, we need to consider how vape marketing makes these products widely available, appealing, addictive and affordable.
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.