Vape rule a smokescreen
The announced policy on vaping will not create even a dent in current or future rates of vaping. It is window dressing, mimics weak UK announcements, and will be a relief to big tobacco-vape corporations, like Philip Morris and the industry.
The “disposable” ban issue is already got around by adding removable batteries, stricter R18 regulation will not impact sales for multiple reasons including online sales and difficulty in monitoring purchases on behalf of others, and changing names is just that.
Such laxity goes against the World Health Organisation’s strong advice to ban or tightly regulate vaping.
Change involves four functions: remove displays of vapes and vape advertising, put health warnings on packaging and state health risks, not the current understatement regarding this highly addictive product with multiple toxins in concentrations known to cause harm, establish government-funded vape and nicotine quitting programmes (the current one is just for tobacco and strongly recommends vaping), and markedly reduce outlets.
None of these preclude vape use by those stopping tobacco smoking, the only reason they were licensed.
There is a groundswell of New Zealanders, including coalition MPs and their voters, increasingly unhappy and uneasy about our being No. 2 in highest vapers globally, with nearly 2000 primary and intermediate children stood down for vaping last year, statistically epidemic rates of secondary school vapers, 18.6% of 15-24 year olds vaping, etc.
There are now only three western countries with lax regulations, us, Canada and the UK , and of the three we have the highest vape rates.
Mary MacGibbon, Miramar