SmokeFree

SmokeFree 2025 is a goal set by the New Zealand Government so that by the year 2025, fewer than 5% of New Zealanders will be smokers. This will be achieved by:

Protecting children from exposure to tobacco marketing and promotion

Reducing the supply of, and demand for, tobacco

Providing the best possible support for quitting

VIANZ believes that vaping plays an integral part in achieving this goal

Vaping products are accessed through three key channels in New Zealand

Specialist Vape Retailers
(SVRs)

Vaping products (all notified flavours) and devices are sold in 18+ SVR stores and/or online if approved by the Vaping Regulatory Authority (VRA). This includes age verification. Physical stores can freely talk about and sell different types of vapes with customers and if an Approved Vaping Premise, 18+ smokers or vapers can try vaping substances and devices before buying.

General Vape Retailers
(GR)

All retailers who are not SVRs may sell devices but are limited to selling three ‘traditional’ flavours – tobacco, mint and menthol to 18+ persons only. VIANZ does not agree with this because general retailers are the largest sellers of tobacco products while this sector is limited in what they can say to smokers restricting their ability to convert smokers to a safer, cheaper and better option.

Stop Smoking Services

There is a range of stop smoking services available across New Zealand who can provide vaping education and products, these include:

  • Quitline - a free national telephone-based smoking cessation service available to all New Zealanders.

  • Local health services - Te Whatu Ora offers smoking cessation programmes, support groups, counselling services and access cessation aids nationwide.

  • General Practioners (GPs) and Primary Care Providers - offer guidance and support to individuals who want to quit smoking.

  • Pharmacies - can provide advice on quitting smoking, recommend appropriate cessation aids, and support individuals throughout their quit journey.

  • Online - there are various online resources available to support individuals smoking cessation journey. Many vape retailers have an online store.

  • Community-based programmes - many community organisations and not-for-profit groups offer smoking cessation support including The Fono, Ready Steady Quit, K’aute Pasifika Trust, Toki Rau Stop Smoking Services. Check out Smokefree.org.nz for a comprehensive list of community-based programmes.

Vaping is a market-led solution to the smoking epidemic that’s been around in its modern from since the mid-2000s. 

Today, an estimated 258,000 Kiwis vape daily and it poses the most serious threat to smoking, ever, making it a global good. Vaping is not just cheaper it is inherently safer. 

Vape flavours help provide smokers with a more appealing and customisable alternative to traditional cigarettes, supporting their efforts to quit smoking. Because there is no burning of tobacco, vapers are not exposed to the multitude of known carcinogens found in cigarettes, which greatly reduces health risks.

While vaping is not harmless, it is substantially safer than smoking. Gloabally, there are three major types of vaping products, two of which are sold legally in New Zealand (E-liquor/MOD, smokeless heated pouches).

  • These are manufactured liquids for refillable tanks (involving a wick), sealed pods (wickless) and disposable vapes. The liquid or juice is heated in a battery powered device to a point where vapour is created and inhaled hence ‘vaping’. MOD (refillable tank devices) gives a user more control over cloud output and power (temperature). Sealed pods are generally tamperproof offering a reliable and consistent flavour with the ability to change out flavoured pods. Disposables are sealed single-flavoured devices but can be sufficient to replace multiple packs of cigarettes.

  • Contain a specially manufactured tobacco plug within a tobacco stick. When placed into a battery powered device that shuts off when done, a blade or pin heats the tobacco to a point whereby a tobacco infused vapour is inhaled. These devices offer a cigarette-like experience as they use real-tobacco but are a vape as they do not burn and the sticks can be disposed of in rubbish with no need to stub them out.

  • These products are not sold in New Zealand but are very popular in Scandinavian countries who now have the lowest smoking rates in Europe, especially among young women. These are small pouches containing either nicotine or tobacco, which is placed under the lip allowing nicotine to be unobtrusively absorbed without the need for a battery powered device.