Which agency or Ministry is responsible for allowing vape products to be widely available to non-smokers?
Michael Vaughan made this Official Information request to Ministry of Health
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From: Michael Vaughan
Dear Ministry of Health,
Since vape products became widely available in New Zealand (to non-smokers as well as smokers), they have become a craze among our young people. Many thousands of young New Zealanders who were non-smokers have become addicted to vape products due to their highly-addictive nicotine content. Widespread harm is happening to these young people which would not be occurring if vape products had not been allowed to become widely available to non-smokers as well as smokers.
This is nothing short of catastrophic.
1) When a company wants to start selling a product of this nature in New Zealand, what is the process? Does the company have to seek permission to sell the product? Does the company have to provide evidence of safety? Are there any 'checks and balances' and if so, who is responsible for administering them?
2) Which Ministry, individual, agency or other authority in New Zealand could have prevented the widespread availability of vape products?
3) Why did the Ministry of Health not recommend to the relevant decision-makers that vape products be made available ONLY to smokers who genuinely wanted to use them as a means to stop smoking cigarettes? This could easily have been achieved by making the vape products prescription-only.
Yours faithfully,
Michael Vaughan
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Kia ora Michael
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Kia ora Michael
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