Vaping is like being bitten by a snake delivering addictive venom so you make it bite repeatedly
The following is material which has been used for a poster and a hand-out pamphlet, to help make this an election issue.. (You may wish to make one or both of these. ) These can of course also be used to make e-messages, PDFs etc.
The heading for the poster
NZ not told about toxins which are in ALL vapes at concentrations known to cause serious disease including COPD and cancer.
· The US and Australian govts clearly state these risks. The NZ government does not. The US govt CDC, the American Cancer Council and the Mayo and Cleveland clinics all state vaping is too dangerous even as a tool for quitting tobacco, and advise on use of safer methods and provide real help to quit vaping.
· The NZ govt criminally does not clearly advise about risks other than nicotine, it strongly endorses vaping as advised by 'big tobacco' which makes vapes, and it does not provide real support to quit. NZ has a youth vaping epidemic, like the UK.
· This can be changed easily by a responsible government using a campaign and giving proper support to quit vaping. Vote in the election for candidates who care and will act to unhook NZ, including a shocking 1 in 5 young NZers addicted to vapes.
· Vaping is a like a snake delivering venom which is addictive so you keep trying to get bitten.
· You can quit and save your lungs. The Cleveland Clinic website is great.
The poster includes a full picture of the snake image shown in part above, and obtained and downloaded free by googling Cobra photos.
It also includes the following which , along with the cobra image, was used for the pamphlet to hand out. I used colour for the poster and black and white for the hand outs.
Vapes are venomous...
They deliver poisons, with a hook.
New Zealanders are not told about these poisons other than nicotine, even though highly toxic chemicals are present in the inhaled aerosol of all vapes and in concentrations known to cause harm. New Zealand has a right to know about these but the NZ government, unlike the governments in the US and Australia, fails to advise the public about these, extremely understating risk of regular vaping. It also does not provide real support for quitting. This is criminal.
Note that the government as well as the vape manufacturers and distributors make large profits from our high vaping rates, while the estimated real cost to NZ is immense.
The NZ govt also permits unusually high concentrations of nicotine in vapes for sale. (In Australia this concentration requires a doctor's prescription.) Our children are hooked on vapes in epidemic numbers.
What regular vapers should be told about vaping and how to quit both tobacco and vaping safely -see other side. The best resources you can access easily by googling the most respected clinics in the world, such as the Mayo Clinic or Cleveland Clinic. or the website of the CDC (The US Government Centres for Disease Control and Prevention) which has much the same content as the clinics. Each site provides user-friendly clear information about vaping, its risks and how to quit, as well as safe ways to quit tobacco.
Take care of your wonderful lungs.. Your future needs them
The poster included a chart with 5 sections and writing underneath:
Section 1
Facts always known about vapes
To make the aerosol which is needed to deliver nicotine to the blood all vape liquids must include propylene glycol (PG) or vegetable glycerin (VG), or both. These are in smoke machines.) They are heated by the vape element, which results in formation of carcinogenic aldehydes including formaldehyde (used to preserve dead bodies) and acrolein. All vape aerosols contain these substances at concentrations known to cause harm: PG and VG cause inflammation and these aldehydes cause cancer.
Most vapes contain nicotine which is one of the most addictive chemicals known.
(Most vape aerosols also contain other toxins- see refs.)
Section 2
Facts clearly told to NZ about vape risks
Only that vapes can cause addiction to nicotine
(Nothing else is required on packaging, and nicotine addiction is the only risk stated clearly by government material for the public. This is illegal and extremely irresponsible.)
Section 3
Advice to NZ by the Ministry of Health
Vapes are the strongly recommended best way to quit tobacco.
A major campaign was launched encouraging their use as a cool, sexy activity.
The easy access to vapes, the inviting vape specialist shops that sell vapes in alluring packaging, the lack of statement of risk or decent help to quit all show the strong ongoing government support for vaping in NZ.
Section 4
Advice by the best medical clinics and respiratory specialists in the world
The Cleveland Clinic “Hands down, vaping is not a safe alternative to smoking cigarettes. Period.”
The American Cancer Council: Vapes are too dangerous even as a tool to quit tobacco.
Also see Mayo Clinic and the US government material via the CDC (Government Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).
Safe methods of quitting tobacco, vaping and nicotine addiction are clearly advertised and strongly encouraged, and robust widespread support is provided.
Section 5
You may say ‘But the NZ Ministry of Health strongly recommends vaping and no other way of quitting tobacco, so shouldn’t we use them at least for this?’
See advice to the left. Vapes do have less carbon monoxide and no tar, but they contain other highly toxic chemicals in significant amounts. Vapes may be found long term to cause equal or fewer harmful effects, but they are still a major health hazard for serious diseases – see far left column. It is like comparing two highly toxic substances, both being dangerous. Vapes have been around for less time so not all predicted long -term effects have been seen yet. The presence of significant amounts of carcinogens and other disease-causing agents in the vape aerosol, the conditions like COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and DNA changes already presenting from regular vaping strongly indicate other serious long-term effects including cancers will also emerge.
Health insurance companies treat vaping and tobacco smoking the same in terms of risk
Other safer ways of quitting tobacco are well known and promoted by the US, and vaping is not.
If people do decide to vape they should at least know the risks in addition to that of nicotine addiction. It is their legal right.
Note below the whole chart
So, what is needed?
The government must simply adopt first world practices and follow advice from the world class clinics and authorities on lung health. The Mayo and Cleveland Clinics and the CDC provide user-friendly advice on the risks of vaping, safe ways to quit tobacco smoking, and how to quit vaping.
1. Vapers must be told clearly of the risks of regular vaping in addition to that of nicotine addiction as is their legal right. The government and manufacturers not stating these is criminal. As stated above, the risks of serious inflammatory conditions and cancer have been known from the first manufacture of vapes. Responsible countries including the US and Australia clearly state these risks in material for the public.
2. The recognised safer ways of quitting tobacco must be clearly stated to the public and proper support given to use them.
3. Support for quitting vaping must urgently be provided throughout the country, in collaboration with primary health care providers.
Why is this so important?
NZ has one of the highest rates of vaping globally with an ongoing youth epidemic. We must stop NZ catering to offshore tobacco companies like Philip Morris which make the vapes. Note that the government is making 15% on each ‘deal’ while the real community costs are immense.
We must give NZ lungs a future. The country faces a looming tsunami of shocking health and socioeconomic costs from this ‘scourge’, as it is described by Vaughan Couillault, a former President of SPANZ (Secondary Principals Association of New Zealand.)
Finally a section containing references
Some useful references re vaping and quitting:
1. The Mayo Clinic site Stop the vape: Plan to quit - Mayo Clinic Health System
2. The American Lung Association site, lung.org.
3. The Cleveland Clinic sites: How To Quit Vaping and addressing both vaping and smoking is: Nicotine Withdrawal: Symptoms, Treatment & Side Effects
(The current New Zealand govt site on vaping is not recommended except as a contrast.)
Some references regarding diseases purely due to regular vaping:
Vaping and COPD https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/chronic-obstructive-pulmonary-disease-risks-symptoms-and-prevention/
This 4 year study showed that vaping increases risk of COPD by 2.3 times. (Tobacco smoking increases risk 5.0 times.) https://doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntaf067 )
Vaping and Cardiovascular disease
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00424-024-02925-0
Electronic cigarettes and cardiovascular disease: epidemiological and biological links in European Journal of Physiology (2024) 476: 875-888
E-cigarette Use and Incident Cardiometabolic Conditions in the All of Us Research Program in Nicotine & Tobacco Research, Volume 27, Issue 9, September 2025, Pages 1651–1656
Genetic changes and vaping: Vaping causes DNA changes to tissues in the mouth and airways, and impairment in various lung functions similar to those seen in tobacco smokers.
https://doi.org/10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-23-2957
Cigarette Smoking and E-cigarette Use Induce Shared DNA Methylation Changes in Cancer Res (2024) 84 (11): 1898–1914
Health insurance companies treat tobacco smokers and vapers the same Does Vaping affect your insurance?