KUALA LUMPUR, June 6 – The New Zealand government today announced that it would ban most disposable e-cigarettes and enforce generic flavour descriptions in a crackdown on youth vaping.
The Guardian reported New Zealand Health Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall as saying that the new rules will come into effect in August.
These include the requirement for all vape devices sold in New Zealand to have removable or replaceable batteries, which Dr Verrall said would limit the sale of cheap disposable vapes.
The New Zealand government will also mandate generic vape flavour descriptions, such as “berry” instead of “strawberry jelly doughnut”.
“We also want vapes as far from the minds and reach of children and young people as possible, so any locations within 300 metres of schools and marae [Māori meeting houses] will be off-limits for new shops,” Dr Verrall was quoted saying.
Data shows that although New Zealand’s smoking prevalence fell to a historic low of 8 per cent last year, the increase in daily vape users exceeded the drop in daily smokers. Daily vaping rates among adults increased from 6.2 per cent the past year to 8.3 per cent.
About 8.3 per cent of adults now vape daily, rising from 6.2 per cent the past year.
Daily vaping prevalence among Year 10 students (aged about 14) tripled from 3.1 per cent in 2019 to 9.6 per cent in 2021.
“Too many young people are vaping, which is why we’re making a number of moves to stop that happening,” Dr Verrall reportedly said today.
“We need to strike a balance between preventing young people from starting to vape, at the same time as having vapes available as a cessation tool for those who genuinely want to give up smoking.”
Last December, New Zealand passed an anti-smoking amendment bill in Parliament that bans the sale of tobacco to anyone born from 2009. However, the new legislation does not cover e-cigarettes or vape.
