Concerned about youth vaping?

Kerry from West End

It's time to get our heads out of the clouds and take action to stop vaping addiction in young people in Aotearoa.
Vaping in NZ is growing rapidly with more young people than ever taking up vaping without knowing what kind of health issues this may cause in the future.
Daily vaping among teens in Aotearoa has tripled since 2019 and a study of early high school students in New Zealand found about 30% of daily vapers had never smoked cigarettes.

We have worked so hard as a country to seriously reduce smoking, but ironically what was introduced as a tool to stop smoking is now addicting more and more young people to nicotine.
We are not anti-vaping as a tool for current smokers who want to quit, but the government needs to strike the right balance between providing harm-reducing alternatives to cigarettes and protecting people, especially young people, who have never smoked and are now vaping.
The government needs to act now to further tighten restrictions on sales, marketing, and access to vapes, and a stop to loopholes in regulations that allow corner dairies to essentially operate as vape stores, frequently in very close proximity to our schools. It needs to put an end to kid-enticing flavours and packaging, and acknowledge that age regulations on their own are not enough to keep vapes out of the hands of young people.
Sadly, a new wave of addiction is already starting amongst our tamariki and rangatahi. We think it's time to take a stand and act now!
Worried about young people vaping? Take just 5 minutes out of your day to make a difference!
1. Sign and share the Change petition: chng.it...
2. Sign and share the Parliamentary petition: petitions.parliament.nz...
3. Share the Vapefree Kids Facebook group with your friends, family, contacts, networks and groups.
www.facebook.com...

Want to do more?
4. Write to your local MP and the Minister of Health
It's an election year, MPs want your vote! Let them know this issue is really important to you and that their actions influence how you vote. You can also write to the health spokespeople for all parties.
5. Offer your help and suggest ideas for action


Do this for the sake of our kids
By coming together we hope to create a strong unified voice to show the government we need them to take action on this issue… now! If we sit back and do nothing, nothing will get done…just a few minutes of your time CAN make a real difference and create a positive future for our young people.
#vapefreekidsnz