Last month The NZ Medical Journal published this statistic in an article, 'The Rise and Rise of Specialist Vape Shops: will proposed changes protect rangitahi?'.            

The conclusion in the final paragraph was no.

'Aotearoa New Zealand has treated vaping products as if they were normal consumer products, when in fact they are anything but. The approach has failed rangitahi, particularly rangitahi maori. The new regulations will not go far enough to safeguard young people, and fall short of the detailed comprehensive protection they deserve.'

Some points featured in this sobering piece are the fact that specialist vape retail (SVR) outlets will still be able to sell the full flavour range of vapes, that the store within a store, such as when a local dairy subdivides its premises to create an SVR, result in many SVRs being adjacent to schools and playgrounds and they will be allowed to remain there, the fact that the proposed proximity regulations do not apply to general vape retailers, SVR outlets outnumber pharmacies, and more.

SVRs are proliferating. The loopholes able to be exploited by vape retailers are clearly numerous. This petition, requesting pharmacy sale only, with plain packaging with health warnings, is not closing all of them but if enacted would go a long way to addressing the problem of marketing and access to young people, while not banning vapes completely given some access for those stopping cigarette smoking, or vaping addiction, is needed, whether over the counter or by prescription.

The failure of the Ministry of Health to inform the public of the hazards of vaping  exacerbates the problem.