E-cigarettes will be key to phasing out cigarettes in New Zealand. This is after the government announced that anyone born in 2010 or later will not be able to buy cigarettes, ever.
"We know that e-cigarettes are successfully used by smokers today to quit, and it is an important tool that allows smoking to be phased out" said Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
Young people turning 14 this year will never be able to legally buy cigarettes in New Zealand. That's the New Zealand government's plan to make the country smoke-free by 2025. The progressive age limit is the first of its kind in the world.
"We have reached a point where raising prices is no longer an effective way to reduce smoking. High prices do not help people to quit smoking either. Now we need to look at the alternatives, and that's what we are focusing on in the next steps." Says Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, to New Zealand Herald.
In conjunction with the age restriction, New Zealand will only allow low nicotine content analog cigarettes in stores. The government hopes that this will reduce the appeal of cigarettes and increase interest in other, less harmful nicotine products.
"Everyone agrees that we need to do more to reduce the number of people who start smoking, while ensuring that those who do can find safe alternatives or tools to quit." she says.
E-cigs popular despite restrictions
Smoking has fallen dramatically in recent years in New Zealand. And according to the Public Health Agency, this is partly due to the popularity of e-cigarettes in the country. This is despite the fact that it became illegal to sell e-liquid with flavors other than tobacco, mint and menthol in regular shops, most recently last year. However, the ban does not apply in specialized vejp shops - where all flavours are allowed. The flavor ban also introduced an 18-year age limit for buying e-cigarettes and a ban on vejp where smoking is not allowed.
Weighing - a prerequisite for prohibition
According to Jacinda Ardern the availability of e-cigarettes is a prerequisite for phasing out, and eventually banning, cigarette sales.
"The availability of e-cigarettes provides a good and viable alternative for smokers. We also see that many people are using them successfully to quit smoking. This gives us a realistic opportunity to push the boundaries and reduce smoking rates even further through the new legislation." she told the New Zealand Herald.
"Groundbreaking by the government"
Robert Beaglehole, Professor Emeritus of Epidemiology and former WHO staff member, is driving the Action for Smokefree 2025. He has long advocated promoting harm reduction in tobacco policy and welcomes the proposal.
"It is groundbreaking that the government recognizes how unique smoking is in terms of harm. Today's announcement paves the way for less harmful alternatives, such as e-cigarettes and vejpning, to replace the deadly cigarettes more quickly" says Robert Beaglehole, to One News.
Helping smokers quit - or switch - is key
Robert Beaglehole says the government's proposals are a more humane way to tackle smoking, as opposed to bans and high taxes. Although smoking has declined in New Zealand, it is much higher among underprivileged groups. For example, 30% of indigenous people smoke mauri compared to around 14% of the general population. An outright ban would therefore do little good, says Robert Beaglehole.
"The authorities are signaling that they want to meet smokers where they actually are. Smokers need support and for a long time we have been punishing and stigmatizing them, through taxation and bans. These measures are instead about helping smokers, interacting with them and making it easier for them to quit. We need to help empower them, for example to switch to a less harmful way of using nicotine, through vejpning. Robert Beaglehole.
Campaign to raise awareness of vejpning
New Zealand health authorities also emphasize the importance of ensuring that safe and effective e-cigarettes are available to those who want to use them for smoking cessation. The authority allows high nicotine levels in e-cigarettes (60 mg/ml), unlike other countries. In the EU and the UK, the corresponding limit is 20 mg/ml. The authorities are also investing in information via the website "Vaping facts" - a campaign that has attracted a lot of attention, among both advocates and critics.
Black market and youth concerns
But the new plan for a smoke-free New Zealand has also been criticized. Many warn of a black market and economic consequences for shops. And the fact that the government is not going after e-cigarettes as hard as cigarettes, when use is increasing even among young people, has sparked debate. However, this is not something that worries Robert Beaglehole.
"Young people are experimenting with vejping, just as they are experimenting with smoking. But the fact is that few non-smoking youth are regular e-cigarette users. They are likely to use vejpning to quit smoking, just like adults. We can address the potential problems that exist among young people at a later stage. Right now, we are doing the most good by reducing youth smoking itself, while helping adults get off cigarettes," he says.
"Smoking leads to death"
His view is shared by Prime Minister Jacinda Veins.
"We have a functioning framework for e-cigarettes and that is important. There are certainly those who have opinions about young people also using e-cigarettes. But right now, our focus is on ensuring that in the future no one starts smoking cigarettes at all, a habit that we know leads to the death of every second user."
Hope for e-cigs in tobacco shops
Beaglehole hopes that shops that make their living selling cigarettes will also benefit from the legislation. And invest in e-cigarettes.
"They have had plenty of time to adapt sales, over 10 years, since the discussion on banning cigarette sales began. As nicotine levels are lowered in analog cigarettes, e-cigarettes are likely to become more attractive and easier to sell and they should take advantage of this" says Mr. Robert Beaglehole.
Compare with Covid-19
And according to Robert Beaglehole authorities should be able to manage smuggling and balance the risks of a black market. He refers to New Zealand's effective management of the first waves of Covid-19.
"Of course, there are risks with these measures. But it's not an outright ban, either. And if we can stop a virus at our borders, we can handle this," he told One News.
