Fight for smoke-free rangatahi finds new opponent in vaping

20 per cent of Māori smoke compares to eight per cent of Pākehā who smoke. Photo / Supplied

By Stefan Dimitrof of Whakaata Maori

The Smokefree Amendment Bill has just undergone its first reading in Parliament with the intention of making tobacco products non-addictive while restricting access to them by reducing the number of retailers selling them.

Smoke-free environments and regulated products, including tobacco, are covered in the amendment bill, which aims to create a smoke-free generation by ending sales of smoked tobacco products to anyone born on or after January 1, 2009.

Anaru Waa (Nō Ngāti Hine, Ngāpuhi), is co-director of the Aspire-2025 research centre, which conducts research to support the government's Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 goal.

Waa said that the Ministry of Health attributes about 5000 deaths a year to smoking and that smoking is the leading cause of illness and death in Aotearoa.

"We are talking about thousands of people saved per annum."

'Alarming issue'

Waa said that Aotearoa needs to think of it from a whanau perspective considering loved ones and financial impacts on whanau.

Waa said just over 20 per cent of Māori smoke compare to 8 per cent of Pākehā who smoke. "So there is a huge equity issue."

Waa said it had been known that smoking was harmful for a very long time and over a decade the Māori affairs select committee heard submissions about the harm to Māori from smoking.

Vaping is growing in popularity among young people. Photo / 123RF

'Same smoking rates 15- 20 years ago'

Waa said with the introduction of low nicotine cigarettes and the smoke-free generation rule, people will stop smoking and vaping.

Vaping has become a popular habit among rangatahi and Waa said, "It's a huge and alarming issue".

"Vaping has skyrocketed in recent years and the rates among Māori rangatahi are the same as we saw smoking 15-20 years ago."

Waa thinks the bill doesn't make any substantial changes to vaping but that if New Zealand does something now, it might make a difference.