New Zealand's Minister of Health and representatives of the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation NZ (ARFNZ) met to discuss the regulation of e-cigarettes and the need to make vaping more accessible to the public.
The meeting, which included ARFNZ chief executive Letitia O'Dwyer, members of ARFNZ's scientific advisory board and representatives from the Ministry of Health, reached consensus on the terms of the new e-cigarette regulation.
“We were pleased with the discussion with the Ministry of Health about how to improve the regulation and educate the public. We may still need some research on the long-term effects of e-cigarettes,” O’Dwayer added. “We were pleased to have this conversation with the Ministry of Health, who are all committed to improving people’s health.”
Both sides said it was urgent that both health professionals and the public get clear information about vaping products . “We want to support the Department of Health and the tobacco control group in getting clear messages to health professionals who are working. We understand there is still uncertainty due to a lack of research on the subject, but we are making steady progress and are very pleased with the dialogue today,” said O’Dwayer.
The government is slow to regulate e-cigarettes.
Last March, Health Minister Nicky Wagner said e-cigarettes would be legalized and that New Zealand was moving cautiously as the scientific evidence on the safety of e-cigarettes was still evolving. However, nearly a year later, there has been no formal action to legalize them.
In fact, last month, the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Association called on the government to begin regulating e-cigarettes without further delay, amid a surge in cigarette tax hikes that led to a spate of retail thefts. Its president, Jordan Williams, explained that poor families and smokers were more likely to buy cigarettes on the black market, leading to an increase in thefts.
“The government’s delay shows that it is not concerned about people’s health, but about their pocketbooks. The government should hold off on raising tobacco taxes, at least until nicotine-containing e-cigarettes are fully legalized,” Williams said.
Source: Diane Caruana - Vapingpost
Translated by: The Vape Club
