“It is in the local dairy, which is only 40, maybe 50 metres away from our front gate on our side of the road,” Riceman said.
He said he was very surprised by the news, although he assumed the store was already selling some vape products.
“We thought that since it was making a dedicated vape store within, we would be notified or consulted through the process about it opening up, especially with the latest policy on vape stores within 300 metres of schools,” Riceman said.
Riceman said the school had seen a few cases of students using vapes over the past few years and he was concerned that the proximity of a space dedicated to selling vapes would increase the risk of students using them.
“Ours hasn’t been as bad as, say, other areas but we don’t want it to end up with an increase and more people coming in for it.”
He said the school has now been left with no options to challenge the sale of vapes near their site.
A spokesman for The Foodstore said in a written statement he decided to extend the shop to sell vapes due to customer demand.
“We thought it would be better to have a small shop where kids are not allowed inside [to] fix the issue so we basically built this small room with no display window or signage,” he said.
“This shop is nothing like [what] you see in town with led lights, glass frontage or advertising signs. We will have tinted windows and no signage at the front.”
He challenged Riceman’s concerns that having a vape shop near a school would make students more likely to vape.
“It would if they see it or if they go inside the shop. This is totally different story they can’t see it, and they are not allowed inside the shop. It’s a closed box. So why would it make students more likely to vape?”
Riceman said he understood there was a “loophole” for general retailers selling vapes near schools, but he could not understand how it was allowed to happen.
Tukituki Mp Anna Lorck said she was adamant that The Foodstore would not be allowed to proceed with its renovation, because the owner appeared to be attempting to set up an SVR inside the store, in breach of current legislation.
”It is not going to happen,” Lorck said.
Alison Cossar, the Ministry of Health acting group manager for public health policy and regulation, said in a statement that the regulations around the proximity rule for new SVRs would be published in August and there will be a review of vape policy.
“Later this year, Manatū Hauora intends to review the policy settings for vaping products to determine if there are any changes that need to be made to better support the intent and objectives of the Act,” Cossar said.
“The review will consider the availability, appeal and addictiveness of vaping, smokeless tobacco and emerging products. Any changes to the law would follow usual parliamentary processes, including consideration by a select committee and public consultation.”
She said there are two types of retailers who sell vaping products in New Zealand: general retailers and Specialist Vape Retailers (SVRs).
“SVRs are allowed to sell the full range of flavours. However, general retailers [such as dairies and supermarkets] are only allowed to sell vaping products from three classes of flavour: tobacco, mint and menthol.
“A store within a store is not considered appropriate and no new stores like this have been approved since the Amendment Act came into force.”
James Pocock joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2021 and writes breaking news and features, with a focus on the environment, local government and post-cyclone issues in the region. He has a keen interest in finding the bigger picture in research and making it more accessible to audiences. He lives in Napier. james.pocock@nzme.co.nz
