2023 Vaping Report
Why we did this report
We did this report because the dairy and convenience sector has played a major role in making vaping accessible to smokers, helping to slash daily smoking by a third in just two years. Despite being in the places and open the hours when smokers come into buy their cigarettes, at least until 2024 that is, we cannot actively sell e-liquid and smokeless tobacco vaping to a smoker, even if they ask for a pack of cigarettes or RYO tobacco. That has to change as we’re extremely compliant as found by Te Whatu Ora.
We’re also concerned that this massively successful product is being attacked for being a success. Vaping has been in New Zealand for at least 15-years. Thousands have daily vaped for the past decade too. If vaping is “new,” it’s new in the same sense a 2008 Toyota Corolla is new in 2023! Misconceptions were brilliantly summed on RadioNZ recently by Associate Professor George Laking, Co-Medical Director of the Cancer Society: “’Oh vaping, that doesn't sound good’. Many people share this perception and that in itself actually is a concern that people somehow have become scared about the idea of vaping. And even think it could be worse than smoking when it absolutely is not worse than smoking.”
What we found
Since July 2019, no hospital events in New Zealand have reported vaping as a primary diagnosis.
Since July 2022 (to 4 May 2023), there has been no use of a vaping code in secondary diagnosis. While vaping has grown, use of the secondary code declined to zero, noting: “This does not imply that vaping was the cause of the hospitalisation, merely that it was documented as impacting treatment.”
Since 2016, ACC claim costs show vaping is 3,207 times less costly than cycling ($172,661 versus $553,813,748) comparing 346,000 daily vapers in 2022 (103,000 in 2017/18), to around 730,000 cyclists (48,000 cycled to work in 2018).
Dairies, petrol stations and supermarkets are highly compliant responsible sellers with a median compliance of 94% for cigarettes and RYO since 1 January 2019 and 97% for vaping sales since 1 January 2022.
Ministry tobacco returns show that comparing 2012 to 2022 (11 years), imports of cigarette and RYO tobacco have fallen by over 1,007 tonnes and the fall has accelerated since 2018.
The record fall in harmful daily smoking mirrors the rise in far less harmful daily vaping; between 2020/21 and 2021/22 (two years), 154,000 fewer people daily smoke including 45,000 Māori.
While there is a focus on youth vaping, we mustn’t lose sight of the fact that the Ministry of Health says 90% of vapers over 25 are ex-smokers.
Data provided by Auckland Grammar School, show that vaping related stand downs in 2022/23 (non-Covid affected) were in fact less than in 2020/21.
Vaping is not only 95% less harmful than smoking, but it could also be more effective than prescribed Nicotine Replacement Therapies too (UK Government and Cochrane Reviews 2022).
So, thank you for reading our report because we put a lot of hours into researching and writing it being small businesspeople. We believe we can do so much more if only we are allowed.
RESOURCES: