Plans to combat youth vaping about to be unveiled

Health Minister Ayesha Verrall will reveal the Government’s strategy to combat the scourge of youth vaping but hasn’t promised an outright ban on cheap, disposable vapes or making them prescription-only.

Verrall is expected to update vaping regulations today, after a three-month consultation, as part of the Government’s efforts to make Aotearoa smokefree by 2025.

Vaping can be used to help people stop smoking cigarettes, but flavoured e-cigarettes have got young people hooked.

Nearly one in five teenagers vape each day, according to the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation, a trend reflected around the world.

‘‘It’s not acceptable,’’ Verrall said. ‘‘I’ve said that many times – we have to get the balance right, making sure that vaping is more used as a smoking cessation tool, rather than as a place that young people go first.’’

It comes after the Australian Government banned the importation of vapes except via pharmacies, and introduced other minimum quality standards, including restricting flavours, colours and other ingredients.

Verrall wouldn’t say whether New Zealand would follow suit, but said the Government had taken the time to ‘‘get the balance right’’ with vaping regulations.

‘‘We need a vaping policy that reflects New Zealand’s needs, given that we have quite distinct needs in terms of who’s affected by smoking.’’

The proposals include making it illegal for new specialist vape retailers to set up shop near schools or sports grounds, limiting what vape flavours can be called, and ensuring that all single-use vaping products have replaceable batteries, child safety mechanisms and substance con

tainer labelling.

However, Sir Collin Tukuitonga, Auckland University’s associate dean of public health, said the Government should go further in making vaping less attractive to young people by educating them, and by making vapes available via pharmacies only.

‘‘Obviously, young people are using it, so there needs to be some limitations,’’ he said.

Verrall in December 2021 announced a radical and worldleading plan to ban tobacco sales to a generation, as well as lowering the nicotine level in all tobacco products and drastically reducing the number of places that can sell them, through the new Smokefree 2025 action plan.

Parliament passed the new laws the following December.

This means that people born on or after January 1, 2009 – who will be turning 18 in 2027 – will never be able to buy cigarettes, and the legal smoking age will increase every year.

However, the new law didn’t include vaping products and retailers.

Those would now be covered by secondary legislation, Verrall said.

The number of places that sell tobacco products will also be whittled down from 6000 to 600.