Robert Beaglehole: Action for Smokefree chairman on the study showing half of vape retailers aren't checking IDs

There are fears the illegal sale of vapes to young people will continue unless more restrictions are implemented. 

A study's found half of vape retailers aren't checking ID when young shoppers buy disposable vapes. 

Action for Smokefree chairman Robert Beaglehole told Mike Hosking that it's not only about increasing retail compliance, but also encouraging young people not to vape at all. 

He says we need better enforcement of the rules but says it won't stop underage vaping all together. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
New research around vaping and rules. University of Otigo sent
out a twenty year old to buy some vapes in Wellington.
Only half the stores asked for ID, A third solder
person the bape anyway when ID wasn't provided. Also, almost
all the stores sold disposable vapes without required nicotine limits,
replaceable batteries or child safety mechanisms. Now the emeritus professor
and ASH chairman, Robert Bigelhole is with us. Robert, very
good morning to you.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Good morning.

Speaker 1 (00:21):
So it's a classic example of a rule that's not
adhered to. I could argue that it was never going
to be. Is that fair or not?

Speaker 2 (00:28):
I think that is fair, Mike, this is a helpful study.
This is not a new problem. We've known about it
for a long time. In fact, there's only been one
prosecution of an illegal sales ever. So this is a
serious problem that we should say that only one and
Frow's young vapors by their own vapes at shops.

Speaker 1 (00:52):
Yeah, see, how are you going to get around that?
And you can't. There's no law that can prevent you
getting somebody to do the dirty work on your behalf exactly.

Speaker 2 (00:59):
And that's what's happening. So this is important. We need
better compliance, we need better enforcement, but it won't stop
underage vaping. There's other things we need to do.

Speaker 1 (01:09):
What do we need to do well?

Speaker 2 (01:11):
I think the one thing about the rules, they need
to be clear. There's a lot of ambiguity about the rules.
The rules have not been developed in association with the
manufacturers or the sellers. The regulatory authority needs to get
on side that people are actually selling these dapes and
making them. That's number one. Number two, we have to

(01:32):
stop punishing young people who vape illegally. We tend in
the past to expel them from school. We've put cameras
in their toilets, just unbelievably inappropriate ways of dealing for
the young people's problem. We need to get alongside the kids.
We need proper educational health promotion campaigns in schools who

(01:55):
do exist, they're out run by the drug foundas and
the support of other Ministry of education, by the police,
by to fat or. This needs to be standard. We
would deal with alcohol thinking, which is a much more
serious than the life state problem.

Speaker 1 (02:11):
Having said that, actually, let me ask you this in totality,
do you reckon that the vaping epidemic, which it's become
is the equal of the tobacco problem we did have.

Speaker 2 (02:21):
Or not two things totally unequal. It's not an epidemic,
Mike of vaping ten percent of fourteen and fifteen year
olds daily, it's a serious problem. We don't want it.
It's not an epidemic. We're not losing a generation of
young people's vaping. But put that aside, the five thousand
people who die every year from smoking. We've got to

(02:46):
get the balance right. We have to help adults who
smoke stop. They need daping.

Speaker 1 (02:51):
All right, Robert, appreciate your time, Robert Bigelhole, Emeritus Professor
Tuman of.

Speaker 2 (02:55):
The Ash Group.

Speaker 1 (02:57):
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