Friday, 18 October 2019

The latest statistics released by the Health Promotion Agency showing a dramatic fall in the numbers of cigarettes being sold in supermarkets, service stations, and liquor stores are being welcomed by the Vaping Trade Association of New Zealand (VTANZ).

“We haven’t seen this level of New Zealand data since 2016. To now see AC Neilsen numbers confirming that cigarette sales have continued to drop, and quite sharply year-on-year, is very satisfying for the local vaping industry,” says Jonathan Devery, spokesperson for VTANZ.

He says, without doubt, smokers switching to considerably less harmful vaping has significantly contributed to New Zealand’s declining cigarette sales. He notes that over the same period smoking rates in Australia have hardly moved, largely due to their vaping restrictions.

“If New Zealand wants its smoking rates to keep falling then the Government has to keep vaping an accessible and attractive smoking cessation tool for Kiwis keen to quit tobacco.

“Prohibiting all marketing, banning the most successful flavours for adults, and dramatically capping nicotine levels would sadly only see New Zealand’s falling smoking rates slow, if not reverse.”

He says VTANZ encourages the Government and its officials to closely review this latest data before Associate Health Minister Jenny Salesa introduces the Smoke-free Environments (Vaping) Amendment Bill into Parliament soon.

“We need to support all the factors contributing to our falling smoking rates. Key is enabling and encouraging smokers to successfully switch to vaping. These latest statistics go a long way to proving that vaping is New Zealand’s best weapon on the war against tobacco,” says Mr Devery.

www.vtanz.org.nz

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