{"id":31791,"date":"2025-12-02T10:38:14","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T10:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/?p=31791"},"modified":"2025-12-02T10:38:20","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T10:38:20","slug":"youth-vaping-halves-in-new-zealand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/post\/youth-vaping-halves-in-new-zealand\/","title":{"rendered":"Youth vaping halves in New Zealand\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Youth vaping in New Zealand has fallen sharply, with new national data showing regular use has halved in just two years. The findings come from the latest ASH Year 10 Snapshot Survey<\/a>, which polls more than 30,000 students each year.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>

It\u2019s a shift public health experts say reflects the impact of targeted regulation rather than blanket bans.<\/p>

The survey of more than 30,000 14 to 15-year-olds found regular vaping – once a month or more – has dropped from a 2021 peak of 20.2 percent to around half that level today. Daily use has fallen from the 2022 \u2018peak vape\u2019 high of 10.1 percent to 7.1 percent.<\/p>

\u201cVaping is not as cool as it used to be,\u201d said Emeritus Professor Robert Beaglehole, chair of New Zealand\u2019s leading tobacco-control organisation. He also noted that fewer than a third of students had ever tried a vape, \u201cwhich is great news\u201d.<\/p><\/blockquote>

Targeted rules, not prohibition<\/strong><\/h3>

New Zealand\u2019s approach contrasts with more restrictive models overseas. Rather than banning vapes outright, the government tightened youth-specific rules from 2020 onward – including an under-18 sales ban and limits on marketing and product standards – while keeping vaping available for adults who smoke.<\/p>

Beaglehole argues this balance has been crucial. \u201cVaping helps adult smokers quit and is much, much less harmful than smoking,\u201d he said. He warns that excessive restrictions risk driving smokers back to cigarettes.<\/p>

Experts say the latest youth data supports the idea that youth access can be controlled without removing low-harm alternatives from adults, a central pillar of the country\u2019s harm-reduction strategy.<\/p>

Youth smoking collapses<\/strong><\/h3>

Alongside the drop in vaping, smoking among teenagers has almost vanished. Only about one percent of Year 10 students now smoke daily – a level Beaglehole describes as \u201cnegligible\u201d.<\/p>

\u201cThis is a major global success which we should be celebrating.. we are leading the way. Youth smoking has almost disappeared, and vaping continues to fall.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>

Researchers note that many countries struggling with youth nicotine use have not seen equivalent declines in youth smoking, and point to New Zealand\u2019s dual-track strategy – protecting youth, supporting smokers to quit – as a factor.<\/p>

Inequities remain<\/strong><\/h3>

Despite national gains, daily vaping among Indigenous M\u0101ori teenagers remains high at 16.5 percent. Beaglehole said more targeted action is needed to support rangatahi M\u0101ori.<\/p>

Otago University associate professor Andrew Waa warns that some teenagers may be shifting to oral nicotine products instead. \u201cRather than talking about a smokefree future, we need to start thinking about a nicotine-free future for our young people,\u201d he said. He describes the higher exposure among M\u0101ori and Pacific young people as \u201can entirely preventable inequity\u201d.<\/p>

Lessons for Europe<\/strong><\/h3>

The youth trends come as adult smoking in New Zealand falls at one of the fastest rates seen globally, driven partly by people switching from cigarettes to vapes. Policymakers abroad have taken interest in the country\u2019s harm-reduction framework, which seeks to limit appeal and access for youth while maintaining practical quitting tools for adults.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Youth vaping in New Zealand has fallen sharply, with new national data showing regular use has halved in just two years. The findings come from the latest ASH Year 10 Snapshot Survey, which polls more than 30,000 students each year.\u00a0 It\u2019s a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":990005,"featured_media":31792,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[257],"tags":[334,183,342,25,186],"slider":[],"class_list":["post-31791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-global","tag-harm-reduction","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-nicotine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/990005"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31791"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31791\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31799,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31791\/revisions\/31799"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31791"},{"taxonomy":"slider","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/slider?post=31791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}