Curb Youth Vaping
VIANZ is very supportive of further restrictions that could reduce youth uptake of vaping. A starting point to mitigating the uptake by young people is understanding where they are accessing these products. There is a large emphasis by some commentators on vape retailers, however, only 7.6% of young people access vaping products from retailers (ASH Year 10 Survey). The vast majority (75%) access products through family and friends. This shows how essential education is to disrupt the chain of supply to our youth.
As an industry association, we believe the 7.6% figure is still far too high. We would like to see greater enforcement of our current regulations and further amendments to the legislation to mitigate retail sales to young people.
Seven key actions that could halt growing youth vaping numbers
Raise the legal age to purchase tobacco and vaping products to 21-years.
Removal or complete ban of single use vaping devices.
An SVR must only sell vaping products.
To obtain a licence an SVR must be a stand-alone operating site with dedicated staff; abolish the store-within-a-store model.
Heavier penalties for businesses that sell to minors or import or sell non-compliant products and a loss of licence for retailers who breach the regulations repeatedly.
All online sellers need to incorporate age verification software into the sales process.
Moving enforcement to the Ministry of Justice.
Note: VIANZ is pleased and supportive of recent announcements, which included a number of the above actions, by the Government to strengthen regulations to further reduce youth vaping.