“Associate Health Minister Jenny Salesa said at the time the Smoke-free Environments Act – which regulates tobacco in New Zealand – would be “amended next year” [in 2019] – but the year passed with no update. Salesa has dropped some clues about what the public can expect from the legislation. In 2018, she said there would be “𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘃𝗮𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘀” and that this will be “similar to retail advertising of tobacco products”. Salesa also said the new laws would “put a stop to vaping and similar smokeless tobacco products in places such as bars, restaurants and workplaces – as we already do with cigarettes”. The minister told Newshub in September the Government is 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗹𝗮𝘃𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘃𝗮𝗽𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗳𝗹𝗮𝘃𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝗱. The drop in smoking fits with the Government’s goal of becoming smoke-free by 2025, bolstered by another hike in tobacco tax in January pushing up a 25-pack of cigarettes to the $40 mark. It’s hoped vaping could help more people quit.”
ARTICLE LINK:
New vaping laws were promised in 2018 – so where are they?
Store
