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Maori tobacco control advocacy group Hapai Te Hauora is welcoming the Government’s decision to legalise-cigarettes and vaping fluid.
Manager Zoe Hawke says smoking cessation aids like gum and lozenges don’t work with everyone, and it’s good to have something else to try to help people make the transition.
The decision comes at a time the rate of Maori quitting has slowed, hampering efforts to make Aotearoa smokefree by 2025.
"We won’t be reaching 2025 with everyone else if we don't start thinking about a lot of different strategies to get us there. Hopefully it will contribute to more Maori getting to the goal, alongside other strategies like reducing supply, making less outlets available to sell tobacco and raising the age to 21. All those sorts of things need to happen together to get Maori to 2025," she says.
Zoe Hawke says having official sanction also means the Health Ministry could clear some of the lower quality vaping products out of the market.
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