Eric Crampton • May 25, 2018 •
Last month’s court decision, and subsequent MoH position statement, mean that heat-not-burn tobacco products are legal to sell in New Zealand. But the MoH position statement said that other tobacco control regulations will apply to reduced-risk tobacco and tobacco-derived products, barring the ban on indoor use in workplaces. Therefore, the same SFEA regulatory controls apply to smoked tobacco, heated … Read More
Eric Crampton • May 11, 2018 •
Every time I think that the University of Otago’s Public Health people can’t get any worse, they go and surprise me. Today, the Initiative launched Jenesa Jeram’s excellent report on vaping and reduced-harm alternatives to smoking. It walks through the evidence on the risks of vaping, heat-not-burn products, and snus, and makes some recommendations around liberalising access so that … Read More
Eric Crampton • Feb 09, 2018 •
New Zealand’s in a fun legal limbo right now on e-cigarettes. Everybody knows that the Ministry of Health is soon to be liberalising, so the de jure restrictions that prevent selling of nicotine-containing e-liquids aren’t being enforced. It’s pretty easy to get vaping liquid. In some ways, whatever regulatory regime comes out of this will be more restrictive than the … Read More
Public Health Expert • Oct 06, 2017 •
Prof Richard Edwards, Prof Tony Blakely, Prof Chris Cunningham, Frederieke Sanne van der Deen, Stephanie Erick, Zoe Hawke, Prof Janet Hoek, A/Prof George Thomson, Louise Thornley, Anaru Waa, Prof Nick Wilson The “Achieving Smokefree Aotearoa by 2025” Action Plan was launched at Parliament on 2 August. A previous blog described its key features and a rationale for the recommended … Read More
John Kerr • Mar 29, 2017 •
The Government has announced new regulations to allow nicotine containing electronic cigarettes to be sold in New Zealand. Currently e-cigarette devices can be sold in New Zealand but nicotine-containing e-liquid can not (nicotine is a scheduled substance under the Medicines Act), although consumers can purchase e-liquid from overseas for personal use. That is set to change with announcement of … Read More
John Kerr • Oct 26, 2016 •
E-cigarettes may have a part to play in fighting the growing obesity epidemic, say New Zealand researchers. Electronic cigarettes have been welcomed by some, but not all, public health researchers as a potential new tool to help smokers kick the tobacco habit. Now a new commentary published today in Nicotine & Tobacco Research lays out the case for vaping – using e-cigarettes – … Read More
Public Health Expert • Oct 03, 2016 •
Prof Nick Wilson, Prof Janet Hoek, A/Prof George Thomson, Prof Richard Edwards The NZ Ministry of Health is currently reviewing public submissions on options that would allow nicotine-containing e-cigarettes to be sold legally in NZ. This consultation raises questions about how the wider uptake of e-cigarette use (known as “vaping”) will be managed. In this blog, we consider arguments … Read More
Eric Crampton • Sep 09, 2016 •
The folks over at the public health blog argue that access to nicotine for vaping should only be through pharmacies, or maybe through some licensed registered shops. One thing is obviously missing from their tallying of the relative costs and benefits of pharmacy-only access. I’ll copy their table below. A brief summary table Attribute/issue Pharmacies Vape stores Product array … Read More
Public Health Expert • Sep 08, 2016 •
Professor Nick Wilson, Professor Janet Hoek, Frederieke Sanne van der Deen, Associate Professor George Thomson, Professor Richard Edwards The NZ Ministry of Health is currently consulting on options around making nicotine-containing e-cigarettes available in NZ. This Perspective Blog briefly examines possible pros and cons of two plausible licensed retail options: pharmacies and vape shops. It also highlights … Read More
Erica Mather • May 27, 2016 •
Swiss researchers reveal that the vaporisation of cannabis oil, termed ‘cannavaping’ is a less hazardous way to administer medicinal cannabis compared to smoking, as published this week in Scientific Reports. Vincent Varlet and colleagues used butane gas to extract the psychoactive constituents (cannabinoids) from cannabis, producing butane hashish oil concentrate, which was then atomised using e-cigarettes. By analysing the … Read More