Can regulators keep up with vape sales as health risks become more apparent? – Editorial
THE FACTS
- Research has found that vaping likely causes lung and oral cancer.
- Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora distributed more than 7000 vaping devices and 67,000 refills in two months.
- A recent survey showed 7.1% of teenagers vaped daily, and 16.5% of Māori teenagers vaped daily.
The current approach to the regulation of vape sales is still too soft and reactive, especially when the health risks are more apparent than ever.
The latest research finding that vaping likely causes lung and oral cancer has been widely publicised this week.
It comes weeks after the NZ Herald revealed Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora has distributed more than 7000 vaping devices and 67,000 refills in just two months in its free vape programme for smokers.
At the same time, “store-within-a-store” vape outlets in the most socio-economically deprived parts of the country make a mockery of the legislation designed to reduce youth exposure to the harmful habit.
It is not news to our Government that vaping has risks.
So why do we continue to encourage it through our own healthcare system?
In an editorial published in this paper in October, we said we should not be publicly funding a “less-bad” but still harmful addiction. That remains true.
While the Government hands vapes out, numerous vape stores continue to operate close to schools thanks to licences obtained before the law changed.
In Gisborne, six vape stores from 18 subject to controlled purchase operations last year failed for selling to minors and other reasons, including the sale of disposable vapes.
At least one failed more than once.
While it is good that these stores were identified and held accountable, comments from the region’s medical officer of health, Douglas Lush, indicate that these operations are reactive measures and not proactive.
He said a store could be targeted for an operation if there were any concerns from the public or a reason for suspicion.
That explains why only 18 of them were carried out in Gisborne over 13 months, when Lush estimated more than 80 places were selling vapes in the city alone.
Only three years earlier, a local health worker shared how concerned she was by less than half that number, 29 vape stores, being registered in the region.
This is not a suggestion that the stores not subject to operations are breaking the law. However, with concerns about youth uptake of vaping, it seems prudent to take a proactive approach to mitigate their potential access to vapes.
In Gisborne, a 2024 survey revealed that 21.9% of Year 10 students in Tairāwhiti vape daily – 63% of these Māori.
Recent nationwide surveys show a more positive trend, with the number of teenagers who vaped regularly – once a month or more - halving since 2021, based on a survey of more than 30,000 Year 10 students.
But it still showed 7.1% of teenagers vaped daily, and 16.5% of Māori teenagers still vaped daily.
Steps in the right direction were taken last year with the ban on disposable vapes, but more can still be done to stop this issue.
The sale of vapes should be treated the same as the sale of alcohol and cigarettes.