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Opinion
EDITORIAL
The crackdown on disposable vapes kicks in next week – and not a moment too soon for parents trying to ensure their kids don’t get hooked on nicotine.
New Zealand’s long fight to keep children from smoking tobacco has yielded slow but steady results, with 1.1 per cent of14 and 15-year-olds puffing on a cigarette at least once a day (down from 5.5 per cent in 2010). That compares to 8 per cent of the population aged 15 and older (down from 16.4 per cent in 2010).
New Zealand’s efforts to get smoking rates down should be applauded, at least before the coalition Government’s axing of laws that would ban those born after 2008 from buying cigarettes.
The fall in smoking rates – together with tobacco price hikes, anti-smoking campaigns and services to assist quitting – will have been strongly aided by the rise of vapes or electronic cigarettes that have helped people to kick the habit.
However, the double-edged sword of vaping is the number of Kiwis (including children) taking it up despite never having smoked tobacco in the first place.
That was a big part of the reason behind this month’s crackdown, which means disposable vapes can no longer be sold from December 21 unless they follow new rules which include maximum nicotine limits, removable batteries, child safety features and new labelling requirements.
The same changes will be required for all vapes in March, and they will also be limited to generic flavours and the use of images of toys or cartoons will be banned.
Vaping supplies at a Vapo store on Karangahape Rd, Auckland. Photo / Michael Craig
The ban looms as a new survey released yesterday by Action on Smoking and Health showed the number of Year 10 students (14 and 15 year-olds) who vape regularly had fallen for the second year in a row to 16.4 per cent, while the number of daily vapers remained steady at 10 per cent. The organisation said this was encouraging, but vaping rates were still too high.
Health officials can’t rest on their laurels and need to remain vigilant to keep a lid on youth vaping. There are also further measures they can take.
Australia has moved to make vapes only available in pharmacies and in “pharmaceutical-like” packaging.
Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners medical director Dr Bryan Betty in March pushed for a similar shift on this side of the Tasman.
While new Minister of Health Dr Shane Reti has been blasted by his medical colleagues over backtracking with regard to our smoking laws, he could go some way towards redeeming himself through further action over vaping to ensure the habit isn’t taken up by another generation of Kiwi kids.
