New Zealand's new vaping laws have come into play

On March 21st, 2024, the New Zealand government set new rules banning all vape shops from selling products with cartoon-type characters displayed on the box and will also restrict what names can be used such as strawberry ice and golden tobacco. 

This comes after many years of vaping running rampant amongst youth and causing large issues at schools, home, and out in the community. It is hoped the new law will lead to a decrease in the number of teenagers who are wanting to join in on this trend, but many people including Kaitlyn Rurehe, an avid vaper of six years, thinks these changes are coming too late.  

“When I was younger and using disposables, I would always pick the prettiest one because they have a way of making the packages look cool.

"But now since I'm not using a disposable, I don’t even really look at the packages anymore.”

Kaitlyn believes that a lot of the youth that are already vaping will not be affected by these changes because they have already been exposed to it for so long. Sharon Pihema from the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation thinks the government should be doing more. 

“I think we can get there but we need the government to come on board and bring in some tighter restrictions, even further in terms of how accessible they are because there are communities around New Zealand where there are more vape shops in their local shopping center than other shops, so we need to put a limit on that."

Sharon also thinks education around vaping in schools needs to be improved. 

“I think education is important and that's part of what we do at the foundation going around schools and talking to students around vaping. Once we have the correct information around how its impacting things like our health and environment, we can help the youth coming through make an informed decision about what they are doing.”

Kaitlyn agrees with Sharon that more education around vaping would have a larger impact than changing the packaging. 

“I think if students and teens were to know more about what vapes are doing to their body and the environment, they would be more cautious about the choices they are making.”

The community is skeptical if these new laws will make a difference but only time will tell.