Photo: Unsplash / fotografierende
Our world-leading Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 legislation barely survived to see this year, and the reality of addressing tobacco use is "like a whack-a-mole".
More than 80,000 Kiwis must quit smoking before the end of the year to meet the goal of Smokefree 2025, which was launched 14 years ago.
But Professor of Public Health Chris Bullen tells The Detail that it is unlikely to happen - "I don't believe so, sadly.
"The evidence suggests we are not heading in the right direction fast enough," says Bullen, who is also the director of the National Institute for Health Innovation.
"We have got more work to do in 2026 and beyond."
The smokefree goal aims to have less than 5 percent of the population smoking by December, but the latest data reveals there are still about 300,000 daily smokers across the country.
Bullen says part of the issue is, last year, the coalition government repealed three areas of the Smokefree law, most importantly the denicotinisation of tobacco products (where the nicotine is basically taken out of cigarettes) and banning the sale of tobacco products to those born after 1 January 2009.
"I think we could have gotten to the goal under the previous legislation, but that was repealed by the current government.
"The lack of policies to support and motivate more people to think about quitting means there's an awful lot of effort on the ground that's got to go on to get 84-85,000 people to quit smoking between now and the end of the year and I just don't see it happening fast enough."
He says the denicotinisation strategy needs to be revisited, and a smoke-free generation approach needs to be adopted to encourage young people not to start smoking.
"Other countries picked up the baton when we dropped it, and I think that would lock in the very low levels of smoking in our young people, forever, and this would be a real boost for their future prospects."
The Detail also speaks to Bullen about illegal tobacco and vaping, and the role they play in Smokefree Aotearoa.
A tobacco industry-funded report has just revealed that 25 percent of cigarettes sold in New Zealand are from the black market, smuggled into the country, largely from China and South Korea, and available on Facebook Marketplace, at construction sites, and in some dairies.
Black market cigarettes are about half the price of legal packets, which can cost up to $45.
But Bullen is not convinced the percentage of illegal sales is as high as reported. He says it is more likely around the 10-15 percent mark.
He believes the tobacco industry inflates the number - and the problem - to "encourage the government to ease up on being tough on their product".
"Regardless, whatever kind of tobacco it is, it's dangerous," says Bullen.
Another growing addiction for New Zealanders is vaping, and new research from Auckland University has revealed almost half of schools across the country have a specialist vape store within a 10-minute walk, despite recent legislation aimed at preventing this.
New research, which overlays vape stores on school locations, shows 44 percent of schools have a vape store within a one-kilometre radius and 13 percent have a dedicated store within 300 metres.
"That means a lot of our young people are getting multiple exposures daily to vape stores and vape marketing," he says.
"We know that association with visibility is important in normalising and making these products more acceptable.
"It's not good enough, we need to get tougher on the vast number of vape stores we have, they are way too accessible in New Zealand.
"We should continue to demand that the government restrict the general vaping retailers. We don't need as many."
Since 2020, it has been illegal to sell vapes to people under 18, but students as young as 10 and 11 are vaping across New Zealand today.
"Probably, these young kids are getting them from their siblings, or from friends on the school ground who are operating like drug dealers, if you like - they are distributors.
"And they are getting them from their favourite store or on the internet, where you just click a box to say you are 18 or over, and bingo, and you have a delivery on its way, if you can hide that from your parents."
Bullen says across the board, more work has to be done with smoking, illegal cigarettes, and vaping in New Zealand.
"The sooner we can control tobacco, the better, then we have these other issues to work on. It's a bit like whack-a-mole, you just get on top of one thing, and another thing pops up."
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