November 29, 2017
Vaping smoke and mirrors
A Maori stop smoking service is questioning whether the push towards e-cigarettes is just condemning another generation to an addiction to nicotine.
Catherine Manning from Takiri Mai Te Ata says there is no hard data showing vaping or e-cigarettes contribute to reducing the number of people smoking, or on what the long term health effects will be.
The issue has split the tobacco control sector, from those who say it should be embraced as a safe path to smoking cessation to those who say the impact of modelling the new vaping behaviour on the next generation needs to be considered.
"Whanau Maori are the most hooked on tobacco there is in the country and we can't have that regenerating to the next generation. We can't have that be our legacy to our rangatahi. For that to happen, we have to look wider than cessation," Ms Manning says.
What works in cessation, whether with e-cigarettes or not, is behavioural support.
Copyright © 2017, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com