Third of Christchurch vape stores within 400m of schools
Tuesday, 22 August 2023
A third of Christchurch’s vape stores are within 400m of a school, with more expected to be set up before new legislation comes into effect next month.
The University of Canterbury’s GeoHealth Laboratory has mapped the proliferation of vape stores across the country, and analysed how many are within a short distance of schools. The research is currently under review.
It found that in the Christchurch City Council boundary in July, 33% of vape stores were within 400m of a school, compared with 30% nationally.
The number of vape stores had “exploded” in the past two years, the study revealed. In September 2021 there were 130 registered stores across the country but by January this year there were almost 1000.
GeoHealth Lab lead researcher Dr Matt Hobbs said the data wasn’t showing a slow down in new stores opening, and he doubted whether they would until legislation was passed.
On Tuesday Labour announced that, if re-elected, it would cap the number of vape stores in New Zealand to 600 and make all retailers have a licence to sell vaping products.
It would also force all retailers, including dairies, to have a licence to sell vaping products, ensure products are less visible from store fronts, and bring in fines of up to $15,000 for retailers who sell to underage people.
Earlier this month, The Press revealed 27 new vape stores were approved to open near schools in the two months since Health Minister Ayesha Verrall announced a crackdown on youth vaping.
Nationwide, the study found there were over seven times more vape stores in the most socio-economically deprived neighbourhoods than in the least. These communities also tended to have a larger proportion of Māori, Pasifika, and Asian residents.
Vaping has become particularly popular with young people. The largest study into youth vaping in New Zealand found more than a quarter of high school students were vaping at least once a week compared, with 10% of Kiwis who reported vaping at least once a month.
An interactive online map allows parents to see how close their child’s primary or high school is to vape stores. Schools in Linwood and Kaiapoi had the most stores within a 400m radius.
“It’s quite powerful seeing it on a map and visualizing it around schools,” Hobbs said.
He said he hoped his team’s work would provide a transparent view of the state of play in New Zealand’s vaping industry.
The GeoHealth Lab looked at how many vape stores would be captured by exclusion zones at different distances from schools to help policymakers make informed decisions.
The Government recently announced regulations to “curb youth vaping”, which included not allowing new stores to open within 300m of a school or marae, and banning disposable vapes and flavours that target a young audience. These will come into force on September 21.
In Christchurch, 16 stores, or 20%, are within this distance, however the changes don’t apply to existing stores.
When the policy was announced in June, the government didn’t know how many vapes stores sat within 300m of a school. But now, thanks to this new research, they do.
Asthma and Respiratory Foundation chief executive Leticia Harding said new vape store applications would sneak in next to schools in the next four weeks.
“It’s well known that you’ve got vape stores wanting to come in before the rules come into effect,” she said.
Harding said the new regulations don’t go far enough and she would like to see the Government adopt the prescription model that Australia will introduce.
The Vaping Industry Association of NZ (VIANZ) said while it appreciates the research shows the density of vape stores near schools, that does not correlate to youth vaping.
Chairperson Jonathan Devery said there was no evidence stores within these boundaries have been selling to young people and cited a recent survey that found 75% of students get their products from friends and family, rather than a store.
“As young people are not regularly buying vaping products from (vape stores) it is unlikely the new proximity restrictions will have an impact on our youth vaping numbers,” he said.
Christchurch mum Anna Stewart joined Vape Free Kids NZ after finding out her own teenage son had secretly started vaping.
She said the Government’s recent announcement was disappointing and she would ask Verrall to revisit the proposed regulations if she had the chance.
“It smacks of tokenism, really,” she said.
Stewart said it was shocking but not surprising that a third of Christchurch’s vape stores are near schools.
She said removing the existing stores from the 300m boundary around schools would help remove temptation for children and for teenagers who are trying to quit.
Vape Free Kids NZ presented a petition of 13,000 signatures to parliament last week calling for a ban on the sale of vaping products in non-vape store premises like dairies, supermarkets and service stations, as well as stricter regulations on specialist vape retailers to restrict their density and location.