The Government says it understands parents’ concerns about youth smoking and vaping, but it is removing three aspects of Smokefree legislation not yet in effect because it believes there are better ways to help people quit.
It would keep working to drive down smoking rates and tighten vaping regulations.
Bay of Plenty mother of two teenagers Megan Verney said she believed the Government had moved the goalposts for making Aotearoa smokefree without replacing them.
“What the hell are we doing? You’ve got a whole generation that have never, ever touched a cigarette”, the ex-smoker said.
She said she believed New Zealand had been “making such good progress” and now “the carpet’s just been whipped out”.
Vaping is becoming an increasing problem in intermediate and primary schools. Photo / 123rf
Cigarettes ‘too accessible’
A Bay of Plenty mother of six, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told NZMEshe was “absolutely appalled” by plans to repeal Smokefree measures.
“We had it down pretty good.
“I don’t even know any teens … that ever touched a cigarette.”
She believed vapes were already “too accessible” and feared cigarettes would become the same.
She said her eldest child, 15, “already had trouble with the vaping” and she would “fight” to keep her younger children away from it.
Vape Free Kids NZ chairwoman Marnie Wilton (right) and her two sons, and Charyl Robinson (left) at the Vape-Free Kids Smokefree rally at Parliament in December.
Health thrown ‘under the bus’
Vape Free Kids NZ chairwoman and mother of two Marnie Wilton said she was “shocked” and “outraged” by the move to repeal the legislation for tax cuts.
“We feel … it’s a backward step for our children.”
Wilton said she believed the Government was “giving us tax cuts at the cost of our children’s health”.
If the Government did not show “moral leadership around smoking” she did not believe it could address teen vaping issues.
‘‘We need our children’s health to be put above tobacco company profit.”
Asthma and Respiratory Foundation chief executive Letitia Harding was concerned removing the measures would support the “normalisation of smoking, of vaping”.
Asthma and Respiratory Foundation chief executive Letitia Harding said the repeal of Smokefree 2025 was "incredibly sad".
Access, including having multiple retailers in small areas of communities, played a “really big part” in the normalisation.
OPINION: Health Minister Shane Reti has been in the firing line for moving on with the repealing of the smokefree legislation. The cartoon includes National ministers Chris Bishop and Casey Costello. Cartoon / Rod Emmerson
British American Tobacco New Zealand (BATNZ) responds
A British American Tobacco spokesperson said the group believed vaping products had “played a key role in the accelerated decline of smoking rates in New Zealand”.
This was reflected in the latest National Health Survey results that showed the daily smoking rate had fallen from 8.6 per cent to 6.8 per cent in the past 12 months.
”We will continue to offer a range of alternative nicotine vaping products to adults who have, or want to, make the switch from smoking.”
All BATNZ products were “for adult consumption only” and the group supported “further actions to prevent underage access to vaping products”, including fines and sales bans for retailers caught selling to minors, more product testing and stricter age verification for online sales.
Associate Health Minister Casey Costello at Parliament. Photo / Mark Mitchell
‘Better ways to help people stop smoking’: Minister
Associate Health Minister Casey Costello said the Government wanted the smoking rate to keep dropping and would “continue to drive that down”.
“We are not getting rid of Smokefree 2025 – we support the Smokefree targets.”
Smokefree 2025 aims to have fewer than 5 per cent of New Zealanders be smokers by 2025.
Costello said the Government intended to repeal three measures in the 2022 Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Amendment Act, none of which had been implemented.
These were reducing tobacco retailers by 90 per cent, mandating the removal of 95 per cent of nicotine in smoked tobacco and ending tobacco sales to anyone born from 2009 onwards.
“There are a number of initiatives in place to encourage people not to smoke and we will look at other options that will help people make that choice,” Costello said.
“I understand that parents and health groups are concerned about young people smoking and vaping, we are too.
“What we are doing is repealing some changes that were planned to take place over the next two years, because we think there are better ways to help people stop smoking.”
She said New Zealand was making “good progress” in reducing smoking and had few youth smokers.
“Most young people don’t touch cigarettes and we want that to continue – and to reduce vaping.”
It was already illegal to sell nicotine-containing vaping products to people aged under 18 and regulation changes that came into effect in December would further tighten restrictions to “help tackle the youth vaping issue”.
The coalition Government plans to repeal three aspects of smokefree legislation and parents of teen vapers are concerned.
Tobacco and tax
A Ministry of Health spokesperson said treasury documents showed tobacco excise revenue collected by the Government dropped from $1980 million in 2019/19 to $1666m in 2022/23.
Vaping products were not subject to excise tax.
Annual returns from specialist vaping retailers showed the market generated about $404m in sales in 2022.
Overall market revenue figures were not available as general retailers did not have to submit their first returns until the end of January.
Michaela Pointon is an NZME reporter based in the Bay of Plenty and was formerly a feature writer.
