On March 20, the New Zealand government said it would ban the sale of single-use e-cigarettes, increase fines for retailers selling e-cigarettes to people under 18, and strengthen regulation of legal e-cigarette retailers.
Casey Costello, deputy health secretary, said: “While e-cigarettes have contributed to a significant decline in our smoking rates, the rapid rise in the number of e-cigarettes used by teenagers has been a real concern for parents, teachers and health professionals.”
She believes that disposable e-cigarettes are the cause of the surge in the number of e-cigarettes used by teenagers and should be banned; It is also acknowledged that e-cigarettes are an important smoking cessation device and will continue to exist.
Under the new rules, fines for retailers selling e-cigarettes to minors under the age of 18 will be increased to a maximum of $100 thousand, e-cigarette retailers’ licenses will be reviewed and all disposable e-cigarettes will be banned.
Costello said: “The coalition government is committed to tackling youth vaping and continuing to reduce smoking rates to meet the smoke-free target of less than 5 per cent of the population smoking daily by 2025.”