Details of the Government's newly-announced
vaping crackdown may keep New Zealanders smoking and paying
exorbitant excise taxes, says the New Zealand Taxpayers'
Union.
Taxpayers' Union spokesman Louis
Houlbrooke says, "We welcome the decision not to apply
excise tax to vaping products. But the details of this
regulation will prevent many smokers from making the switch
and reaping the financial rewards."
"Especially
concerning is the crackdown on displays and flavoured
liquids at service stations and supermarkets. When a smoker
walks into a dairy to buy their daily pack of smokes, this
is precisely when they should be able to see other options.
That should include flavoured liquids."
"Advertising
restrictions should include an exemption for communicating
the fact that vaping is at least 95 per cent less harmful
than smoking."
"The select committee process for this
bill will be crucial for ex-smokers to share stories of how
flavoured vapes and point-of-sale displays got them off the
smokes."
"Regulation should be laser-focused at
preventing children from accessing nicotine. As the bill is
currently written, it errs too far on the side of protecting
the government's revenue stream from current
smokers."
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