Kiwi About The Imminent Vaping Regulations

New Zealand’s e-cig industry welcomes Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s comments, about aiming for the new vaping regulations to be delivered “as soon as possible”.

Talking on a morning show about her stance on vaping regulations, the Prime Minister insisted that the devices should be treated and regulated as smoking cessation tools.  “..doing the work as we speak. My understanding is that it’s not too far away… The complexity of course is we have an existing regime for tobacco and the question and the debate exists around how much you have your vaping regime absolutely mirror tobacco, or not.”

“If it’s a device that we want to use for people to quit smoking then you treat it in a particular way, rather than just having it as something that’s widely available and people might take up in its own right. I think our goal should be to help it as a tool to stop smoking not as something people individually take up,” added Ardern.

The VTANZ disconcerted by entities that treat vaping as smoking.

In response to the Prime Minister’s comments, spokesperson for VTANZ, Ben Pryor pointed out that while Ardern’s stance is encouraging, the fact that both sides of the argument about vaping regulations are still being debated in parliament is disconcerting. “It’s encouraging to hear her sense of urgency and support for vaping as a smoking cessation tool. However, it’s a little alarming to hear that debate still rages inside the Government on the future availability of vape products and to what degree vaping regulations should mirror the country’s zero-tolerance smoking regime.”