“Too many young people are vaping, which is why we are taking steps to prevent this from happening. Single-use electronic cigarettes will be banned in New Zealand from August, Health Minister Ayesha Verrall announced Tuesday, June 6 in this country, which intends to gradually achieve an almost total ban on tobacco.
Disposable electronic cigarettes will be considered those that do not have a removable or replaceable battery. It will also now be prohibited to open an e-cigarette shop near a school or a “marae”, the name given to places where Maori gather, she added.
E-cigarette liquid flavor names as tantalizing as “cotton candy” or “strawberry jelly donut” will be banned, in favor of a generic name such as “berry”.
Ms. Verrall explained that the government intends to strike the right balance between the need to prevent young people from starting to vape and the need to allow smokers to use them to quit.
A necessity to preserve youth
Six months ago, New Zealand announced that the sale of cigarettes would be banned to anyone currently under the age of 14, raising the smoking age every year until the entire population is covered.
The rate of adult smokers in this country is already relatively low, at 8%. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins nevertheless claimed that the new vaping restrictions are necessary for young people. “We’ve heard from parents, teachers and principals worrying that a lifelong bad habit is taking hold in many people at a young age,” Hipkins said.
The restrictions come a month after neighboring Australia announced similar measures on vaping, with the government accusing the tobacco industry of trying to get the next generation of teenagers “addicted to nicotine”.
According to a 2021 study by the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation, almost one in five teenagers of school age vape at least once a day in New Zealand.