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 coveredin 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.
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.
