Opposition To Anti-smoking Law Defies Common Sense - Livelihoods Versus Lives? What Is More Important?

06 December

Opposition to new laws that will significantly reduce the prevalence of smoking in Aotearoa defies common sense, according to a leading public health agency.

The Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Bill today passed its second reading in Parliament; however Hāpai Te Hauora CEO Selah Hart says it was disappointing to hear MPs continuing to criticise the bill on the grounds it would disadvantage retailers.

"Treating deadly cigarettes like any other consumer product demonstrates a staggering lack of awareness of the harm tobacco causes," Ms Hart says.

"People who smoke are not demonstrating free will or expressing a rational preference when they buy cigarettes, the cigarette is in fact almost perfectly designed to eliminate a smokers’ ability to do just that," says Ms Hart.

Ms Hart says the structure of the new legislation recognises people who smoke need help to quit and is based on sound academic research.

"The three key components of reducing nicotine levels in tobacco products, reducing availability, and ratcheting up the legal age for smoking complement each other and must be introduced together if we are to have any hope of reaching our goal of a Smokefree Aotearoa," Ms Hart says.

"The new laws are evidence based and backed up by research going back decades - both here in Aotearoa and internationally," says Ms Hart.

"Nicotine is highly addictive and a key component as to why people struggle to quit smoking. Research shows that reduced nicotine levels mean smokers ingest lower levels of nicotine; cigarettes are less addictive, and as a result people find it easier to quit," says Ms Hart.

Ms Hart says the suggestion people will smoke three or four times as many cigarettes to ingest the same amount of nicotine is preposterous and not backed by any scientific evidence.

Ms Hart says research out of Otago University shows easier access to tobacco retailers is associated with higher rates of youth smoking, increased smoking among established smokers, and lower rates of quitting.

"These same studies show that reducing the number of places people can buy cigarettes would significantly benefit Māori, who continue to suffer disproportionately from the harm caused by tobacco," says Ms Hart.

Ms Hart says while quitting smoking is one of the best things people can do to improve their health, not starting is even better - and the government’s proposal to increase the legal age for buying cigarettes and smoked tobacco products will help to achieve that.

"This is brave and far-sighted legislation.

"We can’t see any reason why anyone other than those people who profit from these products could possibly oppose these new laws. There is no amount of profit that can excuse the almost 5,000 deaths and many diseases caused by smoking per year in Aotearoa.

"We do recognise that care must be taken to ensure that this new legislation and any implementation does not further harm Māori, " says Ms Hart.

"We want to make sure that we do not see Māori disproportionately charged for offences under this new legislation, as we have historically seen in other areas. Māori already bear the brunt of inequity, and we need to ensure this legislation does not further entrench this. This provides an opportunity to build networks and strengthen our wider communities."

Our politicians in Government have a legal obligation to first prioritise the inequitable health outcomes for Māori, who for decades have suffered and continue to suffer the greatest burden of ill health and death from tobacco.

"It’s high time opposition politicians put public health ahead of party politics and get behind the Smokefree2025 kaupapa."

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