In the country’s lowest income communities business is booming for vape retailers, data compiled by Sunday has found.
On the streets of Ōtāhuhu in South Auckland, you don’t have to look far for a nicotine fix.
Its small shopping centre is home to 8 vape stores – two of them are side by side.
It’s a pattern repeated all over the country. The higher the deprivation of an area, the more specialist vape retailers it has.
A Sunday investigation has found nearly 10 times as many e-cigarette outlets in our lowest income communities as there are in the most well-off.
Health researcher Lucy Hardie has been studying the vape industry’s marketing strategies.
“That’s unsurprising in a way because I know from previous research of alcohol outlets, that the industry does target these high deprivation areas,” says Hardie.
“The industry would probably say, ‘Oh, this is where the smokers are. This is why we need to be there.’ But the underlying question is are they just targeting vulnerable populations, or are they really there to help?”
We mapped every specialist vape retailer in the country to see which areas were home to the most. We then compared that with socioeconomic status – and it tells a familiar tale.
The University of Otago’s deprivation index measures an area’s socioeconomic status using a scale of 1 to 10.
Deprivation level 1 represents the most-well off communities. Across New Zealand, these areas have 22 vape stores.
At each step up the scale, there are more vape outlets.
The least well-off areas – deprivation level 10 – are home to a total of 202.
Even when accounting for population, the data shows a clear correlation – our country’s poorest communities are home to the most vape stores.
The vaping industry says its products are for adults to quit smoking and the stores reflect where the smokers are.
Jonathan Devery is the chair of the Vaping Industry Association of New Zealand.
“In order for vaping to be an effective smoking cessation tool it needs to be available in every location that tobacco is sold,” says Devery. “Accessibility is especially important for communities where the health and financial burden from tobacco is higher.”
Watch the full Sunday investigation:
A Sunday investigation reveals the link between an area’s deprivation and the number of vape stores. (Source: Sunday)
Health Minister Ayesha Verrall says it isn’t surprising. “Because we see the same pattern with tobacco and alcohol,” she says.
“It’s not good. That is why we've got a package of changes here, which include making sure that disposable vapes, which are the cheap ones that appeal to young people or people who are on low incomes, are off the shelves,” she says.
The Government is phasing out disposable vapes – which retail for as little as $10 – as part of a package to tackle youth vaping.
New figures released to Sunday reveal e-cigarettes are a growing problem even in primary and intermediate schools.
The number of standdowns for smoking or vaping at primary and intermediate schools has now outstripped the number at secondary school.
In 2020, there were 355 cases of a student being stood down for smoking or vaping at New Zealand primary and intermediate schools.
That figure soared in the space of two years – to 1928 cases in 2022. That’s 417 more incidents than there were at high schools in 2022.
The Health Minister says the new regulations are designed to reverse that trend.
“It means we do have to take the steps we're taking now to make sure that we've got our regulatory setting right,” says Verrall.
Law changes announced this month will prevent new vape stores within 300m of a school or marae – but existing stores will remain.
“Those vape shops that are near schools will still be substantially reduced in what they can sell, particularly on disposable vapes and the packaging of vapes to appeal to children,” says Verrall.
“But I want to be clear - selling vapes to under 18s has been illegal for a couple of years now. Ministry of Health is enforcing that with raids on shops.
“We also do need to continue to work on setting clear expectations for young people about not tolerating vaping. And that's something the whole community needs to be behind.”
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