Vape-Free Kids NZ Challenge Government’s Dismissive Position On Youth Vaping

Vape-Free Kids New Zealand (VFK NZ), a grassroots group seeking more action to prevent harm to rangatahi from vaping, are disappointed by the Associate Health Minister’s recent remarks on youth vaping.

The government has suggested the issue required a community effort, with parents and schools needing to work together and that they should be “setting clear expectations” to children.

VFK NZ member and Christchurch parent Anna says parents and schools were already doing the best they could to prevent children having access to vapes, but that the government needs to stop pushing the responsibility of tackling youth vaping onto them.

“We can educate our children on the risks of vaping until we are blue in the face, but without the government acting now to introduce tighter regulations and enforce existing ones, children will continue to be the victims of the blatant promotion and sale of vaping products which target young people.”

“How on earth do parents intervene in the selling of these products without being seen as vigilantes? My son was regularly sold vaping products from the local dairy and became addicted to nicotine at the age of 14. The measures proposed do not prevent this from happening.”

Daily vaping among teenagers in Aotearoa has tripled since 2019, and a study of early high school students revealed that almost 30 percent of daily vapers had never smoked cigarettes.

“Parents and whānau across the motu are calling for more leadership from the government to address the youth vaping crisis. Any plan that doesn’t include tighter regulations for vape retailers, with stronger penalties that are rigorously enforced, is inadequate.”

Vape-Free Kids NZ was created four weeks ago and already has more than 1200 members. The group has launched two petitions calling for action on the issue at petitions.parliament.nz/2a168fb2-ec46-478c-52f5-08db2efc521d (2,800 signatures to date) and www.change.org/vapefreekidsnz (5,300 signatures to date).

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