Vaping industry hits back over possible regulation

‘‘ ... if we ban all flavours, then it will be industry suicide.’’ Jonathan Devery VTANZ

Fear of death by regulation has breathed new life into New Zealand’s Vaping Trade Association.

Its biggest fear was the Government banning all vaping liquid flavours except tobacco, menthol and mint as fruit flavours might make vaping attractive to young people.

‘‘We are not against controls around certain flavours – if there is certain flavours like bubblegum that are deemed to be appealing to children – but if we ban all flavours, then it will be industry suicide,’’ Jonathan Devery, Vaping Trade Association of New Zealand (VTANZ) spokesman, said.

Vaping is the term for inhaling nicotine-laden vapour from electronic devices, known as e-cigarettes, and even the Government sees it as the best chance of New Zealand going smoke-free by 2025. But as worrying signals came from the Government, Devery said vape store owners resuscitated VTANZ, which was founded two years ago but had fallen into inaction despite the industry now being worth about $300 million a year.

Devery, who said no member of VTANZ was linked to the tobacco industry, said VTANZ had two aims.

The first was to make sure all retailers behaved responsibly, with a special focus on not selling their wares to children.

The second was to be available to talk to government officials but he said: ‘‘No political party has reached out to us to ask for any information on our customers’ buying habits, or the demographics of who our customers are.’’

The vaping industry expects the Government to publish details of its planned regulation either later this month or next.

But in September, Health Minister Jenny Salesa sent a shiver down vape-shop owners’ spines by announcing she would be looking to ban all but a handful of flavours in response to concerns some school children were vaping.

‘‘She caught a lot of people off guard with that,’’ Devery said.

About 90 per cent of e-liquids

sold were flavoured, he said.

Banning flavours would only play into the hands of the cigarette industry, he said.

The industry was also concerned a total advertising ban could prevent many smokers from switching but Devery said the industry would be supportive of advertising regulation, such as banning vape adverts from TV.

VTANZ got a boost earlier this month when the Surge report was published by academics and antismoking campaign group Ash.

It called for ‘‘effective regulation’’ of vaping that did not obstruct smokers switching from smoking by making smokefree alternatives more expensive, less appealing, or more difficult to access.

‘‘Flavours are integral to the appeal of smokefree alternatives and an essential part of the proposition to smokers to try switching and remain smokefree,’’ the report said but it added: ‘‘They also raise concerns about attracting non-smoking youth.

‘‘We recommend focusing controls on marketing, branding, and flavour descriptors rather than on banning particular flavour chemicals or categories (except where there are safety concerns).’’

Devery said the report came as a relief for the vaping industry, which had suffered a media backlash after deaths from vaping were reported in the United States, even though the deaths were linked to vaping with illicit liquids laced with THC, the active ingredient in cannabis.

Vape store owners were also heartened when the Government launched a vaping facts website, which said: ‘‘Breathing any product into your lungs unnecessarily is not ideal, and that is why nonsmokers should not vape.

‘‘However, for those who smoke, switching to vaping is likely to substantially reduce health risks.’’

There was also talk of setting an upper limit on the amount of nicotine an e-liquid can contain, and the industry feared that would be lower than the amount in an ordinary cigarette.

That would be a disaster, Devery said, as it would mean smokers would find e-cigarettes less satisfying, making them useless for people switching away from cigarettes.

If there were limits on vaping liquids, equivalent limits should be applied to cigarettes, he said.

Devery felt double standards were being applied to vaping, which had huge potential to improve the health, and finances, of many New Zealand families.

Vaping shops were pushing into lower-income areas, which currently had a greater density of cigarette retailers than wealthier ones, Devery said.

Whenever he drove around major cities he was struck by the mass of advertising for harmful products like alcohol and fast food.