Chewing tobacco to be legalised
Smokeless tobacco products including chewing tobacco and inhaled nicotine - are to be legalised.
Associate Health Minister Nicky Wagner announced yesterday a move to establish a premarket approval system for smokeless tobacco and nicotinedelivery products, other than e-cigarettes.
‘‘This is part of new thinking - a forward looking approach, building on some of the innovative new technologies that are available intentionally to try and give smokers safer alternatives to tobacco.’’
The American Cancer Society labels smokeless tobacco as a ‘‘less lethal, but still unsafe’’ alternative to smoking.
Wagner made the announcement at Parliament in front of health experts and advocates who were there to present the Achieving Smokefree Aotearoa Project (ASAP) - a road map on how to achieve this country’s smoke-free 2025 goal.
The plan called for drastic Government action to reduce the availability and convenience of tobacco products, bold restrictions for retailers and massive tax jumps on cigarettes.
The project’s lead, University of Otago Wellington Professor Richard Edwards, was ‘‘a bit taken aback’’ by Wagner’s announcement.
‘‘We put all these recommendations and things in the report and this wasn’t one of them.’’
Edwards said we should assess the impact of new laws around e-cigarettes – set to kick in next year – before adding other types of tobacco-containing products.
Current laws ban the import, sale and distribution of tobacco products described as suitable for chewing or any other oral use besides smoking.
Some products available internationally, including heat-notburn, snus, moist snuff, dissolvables and inhaled nicotine may be significantly safer than cigarettes, Wagner said.
Heat-not-burn products are like e-cigarettes, but contain tobacco and other chemicals.
Snus and moist snuff is tobacco stuffed in the gums and cheeks and may be flavoured.
Dissolvables are lozenges. tobaccocontaining