New Zealand Justice Minister Opposes E-Cigarette Ban
New Zealand’s justice minister opposed a full e-cigarette ban, arguing that vaping is a safer alternative to smoking as the government considered new advertising restrictions.
Last month, the New Zealand Ministry of Health proposed a bill to ban e-cigarette advertising. Justice Minister David Parker believes that a complete ban on smoking is unreasonable, as smoking is a safer alternative to smoking. <\/span>
When introducing the long-awaited "E-Cigarette Amendment," the New Zealand Ministry of Health acknowledged that the harms of e-cigarettes and the consumption of smokeless tobacco products are not as severe as smoking, thus the bill will exempt these products from certain regulations applicable to tobacco products. <\/span><\/div>
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The Ministry stated: “(The bill) allows all retailers to display products in stores, which sharply contrasts with the requirement that tobacco products be invisible to the public.” However, despite this, the amendment still prohibits all forms of advertising. <\/span><\/div>
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In response, the local vaping association VTANZ pointed out that failing to communicate the relative health benefits of the devices is unreasonable. “A comprehensive advertising ban is short-sighted. We must be able to communicate the benefits of our products to adult smokers in a limited way to convert them to products that reduce harm by 95%.” <\/span><\/div>
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Calls for sensible regulations rather than blanket bans <\/span><\/div>
“..“While some restrictions on advertising may be reasonable, a complete ban is not an 'appropriate response' due to the lack of (misleading) harmful evidence.” <\/span><\/div>
Attorney General David Parker agreed with this. The politician's report stated that the fact that banning advertising or promoting vaping products under the rights bill “conflicts with the right to free speech” makes it unreasonable to ban advertising for safer alternatives. <\/span><\/div>
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He added, “While some restrictions on advertising may be reasonable, given the lack of (misleading) harmful evidence, a complete ban is not an 'appropriate response.'” Instead, vaping is clearly much safer than smoking.” he said. <\/span><\/div>
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A complete ban on advertising would be counterproductive <\/span><\/div>
VTANZ spokesperson Jonathan Devery hopes Congress will heed Parker's advice. “Here’s hoping Congress listens to the Attorney General’s wise advice. A complete ban on advertising would be counterproductive. We must be able to communicate the benefits of our products to adult smokers in a limited way to convert them to products that reduce harm by 95%.” <\/span><\/div>
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