New Zealand is to ban the sale of disposable e-cigarettes, increase fines on retailers that sell to under-18s, and improve retailer regulations – this after its highly criticised and surprising about-turn on banning tobacco sales for future generations.
The government said it was committed to reducing smoking but “is just taking a different approach”, including further regulations around vaping, reports Reuters.
It said that while vaping had contributed to a significant fall in smoking rates, the rapid proliferation of the habit among the youth was a real concern for parents, teachers and health professionals.
Under the new rules, there will be heftier fines for retailers selling e-cigarettes to under-18s, and a review of the licensing of vaping retailers.
Additionally, all disposable vapes will be banned.
The government was “committed to tackling youth vaping and to continue to drive down smoking rates to achieve the Smokefree goal of less than 5% of the population smoking daily by 2025”, said Casey Costello, Associate Minister of Health.
Reuters article – New Zealand government to ban disposable e-cigarettes (open access)
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
New Zealand dumps stringent world-first tobacco ban
New Zealand plans world-first tobacco laws for smoke-free generation
Alarming results from New Zealand’s biggest youth vaping survey