Disposable vapes banned, retailers face large fines for selling to young people
Wednesday, 20 March 2024
Vape free advocates say they are disappointed by new government vaping regulations, saying children haven’t been made the priority, and the changes don’t go far enough.
The government’s announced a ban on disposable vapes and increased fines for retailers who sell to young people, under a new crackdown on youth vaping.
The maximum fine for retailers found selling vapes or other regulated products to under-18s will increase from $10,000 to $100,000, and the penalty for infringement offences will rise from $500 to $1000 for individuals and up to $2000 for businesses, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello said.
“While vaping has contributed to a significant fall in our smoking rates, the rapid rise in youth vaping has been a real concern for parents, teachers, and health professionals,” she added.
“Reusable vapes are a key smoking cessation device and will remain available. But too many teenagers continue to use disposable vapes … That’s why these cheap, single use vape products will be banned outright.”
However, Anna Stewart, Co-founder of Vape Free Kids NZ, said the new government regulations will do nothing to stop her 16 year-old son from vaping.
Her son - who The Press reported was being sold vapes illegally last year - has continued to access vapes from the same dairy.
Stewart said the regulations were no different to and possibly worse than what was supposed to be implemented in Labour’s Smokefree 2025 legislation.
She predicted that increasing fines for retailers selling illegally will make no difference, as with only one smokefree officer in Christchurch, prosecuting a store can take years.
“You can sell a heck of a lot of vapes in that time it almost makes it worth it.”
Like many other parents Stewart has struggled to get her child off vapes and she said these new regulations don’t make it any easier.
Chief Executive of the New Zealand Asthma and Respiratory Foundation, Letitia Harding, said the complete ban of disposable vapes is a “positive step forward.” However, she pointed out that the number of Specialist Vape Retailers (SVRs) in New Zealand is a problem.
“That needs to be capped immediately and no new SVRs should be allowed to open. They also need to ban vapes being sold in dairies.”
Charlie Christie, mum to a 15-year old addicted to vaping, said the new regulations will make no difference to her son's situation.
Christie said he has given up sport, and struggles in school without a nicotine hit.
As a co-founder of Vape Free Kids she is calling for a complete ban in places like dairies and supermarkets, that are often accessible to children.
“Something needs to be done and it needs to be done sooner than October,” she said.
“Our children haven’t been made the priority here.”
Vape Free Kids members plan to meet with Casey Costello next week to discuss options going forward.
Chair of the Vaping Industry Association of NZ, Jonathan Devery, said he is pleased to see regulations that could prevent youth vaping.
He said that implementing a disposable ban could be challenging and hopes the industry will be consulted.
“The New Zealand market is made up of small, independent, locally owned businesses who will need time,” he said.
The Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act will be amended to ban the manufacture and sale of disposable vaping products, and increase penalties for sales of cigarettes and vapes to minors.
Cabinet said a range of regulations will come into force tomorrow, including a ban on vaping products with images of cartoons or toys on the packaging, and limiting flavour names to generic descriptions.
Casey Costello said, “We will also review the licensing and compliance regimes around vaping so that the higher penalties for selling to under-18s are backed by stronger enforcement.”
“… The coalition Government is committed to tackling youth vaping and to continue to drive down smoking rates to achieve the Smokefree goal of less than 5 per cent of the population smoking daily by 2025.”