MEDIA RELEASE
Using taxpayer money to promote vaping misses the real problem

11 JUNE 2019
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Government’s new ‘Vaping Facts’ campaign is emblematic of a wasteful and hypocritical approach to tobacco control, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union.

Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, “The Government previously dismissed the public health value of vaping, now it’s throwing taxpayer money at a campaign promoting vaping as an anti-smoking device. Neither of these extreme approaches are helpful.”

“Companies producing vaping products are perfectly willing and capable of promoting themselves without help from the taxpayer. In fact, they’ll do a far better job of it than the Ministry of Health because they actually understand the changing technology.”

"As it is, the Government says 'we want to use taxpayers’ money to promote vaping but don’t want others to use their own'. It’s a classic government-first approach."

“The best thing the Government can do is to remove the red tape that currently prevents industry players from promoting themselves. It should, for example, be legal for tobacco companies to include vaping information in cigarette packets. Until these kinds of issues are addressed, the Government’s promotion of vaping looks hypocritical."

The Union has requested information on the costs associated with the campaign under the Official Information Act.
ENDS

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