Vape-Free Kids New Zealand (VFK NZ), a grassroots group
seeking more action to prevent harm to rangatahi from
vaping, are disappointed by the Associate Health
Minister’s recent
remarks on youth vaping.
The government has
suggested the issue required a community effort, with
parents and schools needing to work together and that they
should be “setting clear expectations” to
children.
VFK NZ member and Christchurch parent Anna
says parents and schools were already doing the best they
could to prevent children having access to vapes, but that
the government needs to stop pushing the responsibility of
tackling youth vaping onto them.
“We can educate our
children on the risks of vaping until we are blue in the
face, but without the government acting now to introduce
tighter regulations and enforce existing ones, children will
continue to be the victims of the blatant promotion and sale
of vaping products which target young
people.”
“How on earth do parents intervene in the
selling of these products without being seen as vigilantes?
My son was regularly sold vaping products from the local
dairy and became addicted to nicotine at the age of 14. The
measures proposed do not prevent this from
happening.”
Daily vaping among teenagers in Aotearoa
has tripled since 2019, and a study of early high school
students revealed that almost 30 percent of daily vapers had
never smoked cigarettes.
“Parents and whānau across
the motu are calling for more leadership from the government
to address the youth vaping crisis. Any plan that doesn’t
include tighter regulations for vape retailers, with
stronger penalties that are rigorously enforced, is
inadequate.”
Vape-Free Kids NZ was created four
weeks ago and already has more than 1200 members. The group
has launched two petitions calling for action on the issue
at petitions.parliament.nz/2a168fb2-ec46-478c-52f5-08db2efc521d
(2,800 signatures to date) and
www.change.org/vapefreekidsnz (5,300 signatures to
date).
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