Smokefree to mean vapefree
Smokefree areas will soon also mean vape-free in Wellington, with ‘‘slightly tougher, stronger’’ wording in the capital’s Smokefree Wellington draft action plan.
The clarification came out of Wellington City Council’s city strategy committee meeting yesterday.
‘‘The focus of the revisited wording was to make it clear the council did not equate vaping with smoking,’’ councillor Brian Dawson said.
However, public submitters and other councillors disagreed. Instead, the original ‘‘slightly tougher’’ wording of the document would remain.
He said the difference was that, in smokefree areas, the council was asking, rather than encouraging, people to not vape.
University of Otago associate professor of public health George Thomson supported a ‘‘precautionary’’ approach to rules around vaping.
The potential harm of vaping was ‘‘extremely under-researched’’, and there was currently no national standard for the contents of e-juice. ‘‘It moves responsibility to individuals, rather than those who profit from vaping and public authorities.’’
Vaping may help people quit smoking but it was not clear how helpful, as evidence was mostly anecdotal.
Takiri Mai te Ata Regional Stop Smoking Service manager Catherine Manning said her organisation supported the Ministry of Health’s view that the goal was to get people to quit smoking, rather than switching their addiction to vaping.
A change to the original plan would ‘‘dishonour’’ the voices in the community the council had previously heard. ‘‘We don’t have enough information around longterm effects. We’re asking you to show leadership.’’
Cancer Society health promotion manager Raewyn Sutton said her organisation supported the original wording of the policy.
There had been concern that e-juice flavours, among them, bubblegum and strawberry, were marketed to appeal to children.