Petitioner Calls On Two Govt Doctors To Review Vape Flavour Ban
The Ministry of Health has submitted a written submission
to the Health Select Committee, dismissing a Parliamentary
petition signed by 17,357 Kiwis supporting ongoing access to
vape flavours.
Petition organiser, Nancy Loucas, who
is co-director of Aotearoa Vapers Community Advocacy (AVCA),
says the Ministry of Health’s submission is very
disappointing given vaping is New Zealand’s most effective
smoking cessation tool.
She is now calling on new
Associate Health Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall and new Health
Select Committee Dr Liz Craig – both public health experts
– to follow the evidence, not the emotion.
With the
Government’s vaping legislation passed last year, it’s
proposed that for general retail such as supermarkets,
service stations and convenience stores, vape flavours will
be limited to just three – mint, menthol, and
tobacco.
Only registered specialist vape stores will
be able to sell a wider range of flavours. Ms Loucas says
that penalises Kiwis trying to quit smoking in provincial
and rural areas, all while deadly cigarettes remain
available in general retail.
Commenting on the
petition and AVCA’s supporting supplementary submission,
the Ministry of Health says it ‘does not support any
further expansion, via regulation, of the available flavours
sold by generic retailers at this point in time. Our
recommendation is that the provisions should come into force
as intended on 11 August 2021.’
However, Ms Loucas
says public health entities, including ASH and Hapai Te
Hauora, strongly support flavours, choices, and options for
smokers desperate to quit cigarettes.
“We know
vapers quit smoking with fruit and dessert flavours, not
tobacco, menthol, or mint flavours, as they are not looking
for a cigarette taste but to move away from cigarettes,”
Ms Loucas wrote in her supplementary submission to the
select committee.
The tobacco harm reduction advocate
says the Ministry’s logic for limiting flavours is flawed,
and they wrongly cite overseas statistics which do not
resemble New Zealand’s reality.
For example, the
Ministry points to the high use of flavoured vapes by school
students in the United States. However, last year after
examining the data from over 27,000 Kiwi students,
University of Auckland researchers confirmed there was no
youth vaping epidemic in New Zealand. They found that only
0.8% of 14 and 15 year olds were regular vapers.
She
says after taking so long to regulate vaping, it’s obvious
the Ministry is now keen to just push on through and not
break its self-imposed timeframes.
“Consumers are
angry, and the independent industry is looking down the
barrel of being run out of existence thanks to unnecessary
restrictions, huge fees, and added costs.
“Limiting
flavours will defeat the whole purpose of regulation. It
will play straight into the hands of Big Tobacco and
alarming will see the growth of an underground, unregulated
market offloading flavours with no quality standards,” she
says.
Ms Loucas says in its submission on her
petition, the Ministry of Health acknowledges that
‘non-tobacco flavours facilitate smokers to quit
smoking’. However, not actually enabling such facilitation
is short-sighted and will make Smokefree New Zealand a
harder goal to achieve.
“All is not lost because
submissions remain open on the Ministry of Health’s draft
vaping regulations, with limiting flavours still to be
confirmed ahead of the proposed August implementation,”
she says.
Concern is also increasing by smokefree
advocates over the Ministry’s determination to ban
sweeteners in e-liquids. They view the move as a further
flavour ban by small print.
To make a submission on
the draft vaping regulations, before 5.00pm on Monday, 15
March, visit https://www.health.govt.nz/publication/smokefree-environments-and-regulated-products-act-1990-proposals-regulations
“Our
best chance is the new Associate Health Minister and the new
Health Select Committee Chair. My petition signed by over
17,000 Kiwis may have been dismissed by the Ministry, but
these two public health experts shouldn’t be in such a
rush.
“Let’s not make much safer vaping less
attractive to smokers on 11 August,” says Nancy
Loucas.
About AVCA
AVCA was formed in 2016 by
vapers across New Zealand wanting their voices heard in
local and central government. All members are former smokers
who promote vaping to help smokers quit – a much less
harmful alternative to combustible tobacco products. AVCA
does not have any affiliation or vested interest in industry
– tobacco, pharmaceutical and/or the local vaping
manufacturing or retail sectors.
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