Clayton Mitchell New Zealand First MP

Parliament is considering laws to regulate the use of vapes and other non-burnt tobacco or nicotine products. These laws will shape our health budget in coming decades so it is important that we get them right.

The current bill about to be introduced into Parliament is a one-off opportunity to make the next step towards Smokefree 2025. The most persuasive argument in favour of getting our legislation right comes from ASH, Action for Smokefree 2025^[1]. They have released their Surge Strategy for Smokefree 2025, highlighting the opportunities and threats that come with legislating for these products.

The ASH found that Smokefree tobacco products such as e-cigarettes are a big opportunity to reduce the health, social and economic harms from smoking.

Helping smokers move from burnt tobacco to substitutes is something that has received subsidies in the past, for products like nicotine patches and gum. We should treat vapes and similar products in the same way as we treat patches and gum, as a tool for smoking cessation.

Passing legislation through Parliament is not easy. We get one chance at it. With something as important as smoking cessation we need to take careful note of what ASH is saying, and pass laws that treat much less harmful products completely differently to cigarettes.

There are risks associated with vaping. These risks, according to Public Health England, are 95 per cent less than smoking burnt tobacco, so are risks worth taking. ASH's final point highlights the need for pragmatism to get New Zealand to be Smokefree in 2025.

^[1] https://www.ash.org.nz/surge_strategy_smokefree2025