The Bill included a tobacco age limit of 18, restricting the sales of flavoured vaping products to specialist vape retailers, new advert regulations and the implementation of standards to ensure product safety, such as labelling.
Last Summer, the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Vaping) Amendment Bill was passed, setting in place a number of restrictions an regulations. These included a tobacco age limit of 18, restricting the sales of flavoured vaping products to specialist vape retailers, new advert regulations and the implementation of standards to ensure product safety, such as labelling.
The local government had earlier this year launched a consultation on the bill, which was set to close on March 15th. Yet if the proposed draft is approved, e-cigarettes containing nicotine will be required to carry a health warning labels in both English and te reo Māori, similar to those that are required on cigarette packs.
Vape and hookah specialist Shosha on New Plymouth’s Devon St West, is one step ahead of the curve and has already placed warnings labels on vaping products. “He nikotini kei roto i tenei mea, he matu tino whakawara” (this product contains nicotine which is a highly addictive substance), read the labels.
Maori customers have responded positively
Store manager Prince Mehra said he believes this is a good initiative anyway, and customers have responded positively. “The people who understand Māori are excited to see it in their language,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of positive feedback.”
This initiative came about as a result of a Shosha study of 1000 New Zealanders indicating that Māori were significantly more likely to use vaping products than the national average, at 33% versus 24%, either as part of a smoking cessation programme or as substitutes for cigarettes.
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