Open Letter From 41 Experts To Australian Health Minister Gives Insight Into Why New Zealand Must Stay The Course

Forty-one leading tobacco and addiction experts from Australia and New Zealand have written an open letter to Health Minister Mark Butler expressing concern that Australia’s legislative “approach will have serious and harmful unintended consequences for public health, will slow the decline in smoking and will ultimately be unsuccessful”.

“They believe "the black-market will continue to import and supply unregulated products to adults and young people, people who smoke will have difficulty accessing a far safer alternative and some former smokers who currently vape will return to smoking" and are asking for the proposal to further restrict access to nicotine vaping products in Australia to be reconsidered,” says Jonathan Devery, Chair, of the Vaping Industry Association of New Zealand (VIANZ).

The experts cite credible data in the letter that shows vaping is strongly linked to faster drops in adult and youth smoking rates in nations such as New Zealand where vaping is widely accessible. They are advocating for a model that is endorsed by leading, independent international organisations such as the UK Royal College of Physicians, Public Health England (now OHID), the UK National Institute for Clinical Excellence, the New Zealand Ministry of Health and Health Canada.

New Zealand expert signatories to the letter include Emeritus Professor Robert Beaglehole, Dr Ruth Bonita, Professor Chris Bullen, Associate Professor George Laking, Dr Penelope Truman, Associate Professor Natalie Walker and Ben Youdan – all experts in public health, cancer, and tobacco harm reduction.

“Smokefree New Zealand is intrinsically linked to providing smokers with products containing the right nicotine levels to help them quit. The Ministry of Health (MoH) advises smokers that they need to start their smokefree journey ‘at a nicotine level that matches your cigarette’. There is a wealth of clinical evidence that backs up the Ministry’s advice,” says Devery. “Clinical evidence including from Public Health Professor and Medical Practitioner, Hayden McRobbie supports this advice, and research shows if nicotine content is too low smokers will find it too difficult to achieve the nicotine levels they achieved with cigarettes, and many will return to smoking.”[1]

According to Action for Smokefree 2023 (ASH), in six short years vaping has caused the number of New Zealanders smoking daily to drop from 14.5% to record low levels of 8% for adults and 1% for young people. Regulation is having a positive impact on youth vaping rates with ASH’s most recent annual Year 10 survey showing a decrease in regular vaping in youth by 10%. New Zealand’s Smokefree success differs markedly from the United Kingdom where the much lower 20mg/mL limit of nicotine strength has seen smoking rates fail to decline meaningfully and smoking prevalence rates remain stubbornly high.[2]

“New Zealand’s smokefree regulations and dramatic fall in tobacco use should be celebrated. But we need to stay the course to ensure the 387,000 Kiwis struggling to kick their tobacco habit are supported to quit. Key to this is access to safe, effective products containing the right amount of nicotine” concludes Devery.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se-H7QJG8ck

2 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nicotine-vaping-in-england-2022-evidence-update/nicotine-vaping-in-england-2022-evidence-update-main-findings

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