Disposable vapes varied in puff capacity, such as 3500 puffs, the equivalent of about 230 cigarettes and with a lifespan of approximately seven to 15 days.
Associate Health Minister Casey Costello hoped the changes would reduce the appeal of vapes to youngsters.
Whangārei Intermediate School principal Hayley Read questioned the effectiveness of the ban.
“By law, our students shouldn’t get access to them at all anyway. It’s a good idea not to have disposable ones [but] the question begs itself, how are they getting them anyway?”
Read believed students would continue to access pod-style vapes as they did disposables – from siblings, cousins or parents.
Her school had a clear approach to vaping that those bringing vapes were stood down for three days and participants for one day.
However, investigating the issue was time-consuming for school staff, she said.
Vaping was not a “new phenomenon” in the sense that it had taken over the act of smoking.
But she agreed that anything to reduce youth access could only be a good thing.
She said vapes needed to be restricted to prescription only and believed a bipartisan approach was the only way to achieve that.
“The Government has to move on from their own biases and think about the wellbeing of the country.”
Tauraroa Area School principal Grant Burns agreed.
“I feel very frustrated with them being so widely available. You see vape shops in really impoverished cities, and the financial impact on lots of families around the country.”
Burns said while it was a community-wide issue, vaping addiction manifested itself within schools.
“You don’t get large numbers of vapers at Tauraroa Area School, but we do have some students who are pretty addicted.”
His school had sensitive alarms above toilets that would pick up vaping.
But the devices were still very easy to conceal, he said.
Burns said there was an element of “rebellion” in youngsters vaping.
A slew of other factors in students’ lives contributed to the choice to vape as well, he said.
Parents of students he pulled up for vaping reacted in a range of ways, whether in “absolute shock” or not knowing how to deal with it.
“[Some] families are saying, ‘it’s just too hard, my son or daughter is addicted’.”
Burns believed the ban on disposables was a step in the right direction, but not enough.
“Disposable is the cheapest way into it, restricting or discouraging teenagers will be a positive step. But it’s far too little and far too late.”
Costello said it was far too early to criticise the impact or effectiveness of the ban.
“What we’re trying to do is address a problem that was a long time in the making, and I’d hope people appreciate is that for the first time a government has legislated to put controls in place around youth vaping.”
Costello said disposable vapes were the most popular product used by youngsters, and the changes were supported by public health experts.
Brodie Stone covers crime and emergency for the Northern Advocate. She has spent most of her life in Whangārei and is passionate about delving into issues that matter to Northlanders and beyond.
