Calls grow for tighter vaping rules in New Zealand

By Louise Ternouth of RNZ

Calls are growing for tighter regulations on vaping as teachers and experts say the problem is spiralling out of control.

A recent survey by Ash New Zealand shows a 209 per cent increase in daily vaping among 13-14-year-olds.

The Australian government has recently announced a ban on recreational vaping and the UK is considering a crackdown.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has directed the health minister to bring suggestions to Cabinet.

Many people on Auckland’s streets told RNZ Checkpoint vaping was widespread.

“People that don’t even smoke cigarettes are moving on to like vaping. What was the point of going on to vape if you weren’t doing it to reduce your cigarette intake?

“I think it’s happening at schools these days, vaping was not around when I was in school,” said one woman.

“It’s so easily accessible now, you can get it at dairies, you can get it at small convenience stores now,” one shopper said.

Principal of Papatoetoe High School and president of the Secondary Principals’ Association Vaughan Couillaut said schools nationwide were dealing with the problem every day.

“I know from my colleagues, my friends, the society that I live in, that we’re all dealing with the downward creep in terms of chronological age, that vaping is managing to reach down into, which has to be a problem.”

Some schools were resorting to CCTV and vape detectors to catch students vaping on school grounds.

Couillaut said despite schools’ best efforts, students were getting their hands on vapes.

“There is the argument that vaping is a good tool to help get you off smoking and that may well be the case.

“But there’s a whole lot of kids that probably never would have started smoking who have started vaping.”

Ash New Zealand said its February survey showed while smoking rates had fallen to a record low in 13- and 14-year-olds, vaping had skyrocketed.

Daily vaping had risen from 3.1 per cent in 2019 to 9.6 per cent in 2021.

Ash director Ben Youdan said 40 per cent of students said the main reason they were vaping was “to give it a try”.

“Particularly, I think of concern at the moment is we’ve seen a big increase in things like the disposable vapes, which are very, very cheap, very easy to conceal.”

More than 75 per cent of students were getting vapes from social sources, either friends, older people or family.

Only 7.6 per cent of those who regularly vaped said their main source of vapes was a vape shop, dairy or online.

A Quit campaign has been launched this week in Victoria, highlighting the risks of vaping.

Quit’s boss and chief executive of the Cancer Council Victoria Tod Harper said it was beneficial for those trying to quit smoking but not for others.

“We know that for non-smokers who use these products, they’re three times as likely to go on and become smokers using tobacco products, which is of course the last thing that we need given the great success that we’ve had in reducing smoking levels over several decades now.”

Aucklanders had mixed opinions on whether New Zealand should make similar moves.

“Some people can’t go to afford to go to a GP and afford a prescription to get a vape, people still vape a lot and in Australia you can still get them from TSG’s [tobacco retailer] as well without a prescription, so there’s always gonna be a loophole around it,” one person said.

“Similar to how there is a tobacco tax now, I think something like that should be implemented. They’re kids and if you make something that expensive, they would look away from it,” another said.