August 23, 2023
Reti keen on vaping crackdown
National is backing Labour’s bid to crack down on the spread of vaping among young people.
Labour says it will cap the number of vape stores nationally to 600.
All retailers, including dairies, will be required obtain a license to sell vaping products and those who sell to taiohi wll be fined up to $15,000.
National’s health spokesperson Shane Reti says that could have been done already through his supplementary order paper to the Smokefree Amendment Act earlier this year.
He says National supports the general thrust of the proposals.
“We need to see the implementation, what that implementation looks like and that’s part of the detail we need to see but we do support the general direction of travel as we understand it,” Dr Reti says.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins says while the government had taken a number of steps to curb youth vaping, such as banning disposable vapes, and stopping new retailers from opening near kura, Marae and schools, it was clear more needed to be done.