Source: Radio New Zealand
Regulations mean only specialised vape retailers are allowed to sell the full range of vape products and flavours. Unsplash
Vape stores within stores like dairies and petrol stations are allowing retailers to get around flavour restrictions, and a new study has found they’re far more common in low socio-economic areas.
The authors of this new research out of Massey University say it goes against efforts to limit the exposure of young people to vape products.
Regulations mean only specialised vape retailers (SVRs) are allowed to sell the full range of vape products and flavours – and a store can only qualify as an SVR if vaping products make up 70 percent of their sales.
Convenience stores, petrol stations and supermarkets, which don’t meet that bar, can only sell mint, menthol or tobacco flavoured vapes.
But by opening a vape shop as a store within a store, these retailers could stock the full range, and then market those products to their existing foot traffic – for example, someone who has popped in for a bottle of milk.
A new paper out of Massey University, titled “Scoping the vape retail environment and retailers’ responses to vape control measures in selected Auckland suburbs with different levels of socio-economic deprivation” by Robin van der Sanden, Chris Wilkins, Marta Rychert, Jude Ball, Janet Hoek, Penelope Truman, Geoff Kira, El-Shadan Tautolo, has analysed the locations of these vape shops.
Out of 160 specialist vape retailers in 14 Auckland suburbs, 44 percent were stores within stores, and they were concentrated in suburbs with higher socio-economic deprivation, and residential areas rather than commercial centres.
High-deprivation suburbs had a median of 8.5 store-within-a-store outlets, compared to just two in low-deprivation areas.
In addition, 56 percent of all speciality vape retailers were located within 300 metres of at least one educational institute – be that primary, secondary, or tertiary.
The Auckland CBD had the highest total number of specialist vape retailers at 43, while some low-deprivation suburbs like St Heliers had none.
‘Stores within stores undermined efforts to curb exposure to youth’ – researcher
Study author and public health researcher Dr Robin van der Sanden told RNZ:
“It really is about wanting to maintain access to what are essentially the most appealing vape products, and the products that sell the best and most widely, which really are your fruit flavours [and] your lolly flavours.”
Regulations needed to balance accessibility for people who wanted vapes to quit smoking, while limiting exposure to young people and non-smokers.
In June last year, the government introduced strict regulations banning disposable vapes and restricting visible marketing.
Moves to set up vape stores within liquor stores drew concern from alcohol harm prevention groups last year, while the vaping industry argued liquor store age restrictions would likely limit exposure to young people.
Van der Sanden said stores within stores undermined efforts to curb exposure to youth, particularly in areas already facing greater health inequities.
“Kids are popping in and out of the dairy to buy an ice cream after school and as a result, they are coming into contact with that vape retail environment, and they’re seeing people exiting that little vape store carrying quite a cool, brightly coloured looking vape package,” she said.
From a policy perspective, she said, changes to close this loophole could have “a really noticeable impact”.
Associate Health Minister Casey Costello, whose portfolio vaping falls into, told RNZ specialist stores were not supposed to have products displayed outside them, nor were under-18s allowed in them.
“If they’re breaking those laws, that’s an enforcement issue and there has been a significant increase in enforcement capacity and activity over the last two years to back up these changes.”
“Overall, the latest statistics show that youth vaping is continuing to reduce, as are our smoking rates. However, we need a more coherent and sensible regulatory regime around tobacco and nicotine products to better address the harm from smoking and I’ll be interested to see this research and any suggestions.”
Vaping Industry Association also wants loophole addressed
The Vaping Industry Association (VIANZ) told RNZ they, too, thought the loophole needed to be addressed.
In a statement, chairperson Jonathan Devery said the group supported the intent of regulations to reduce youth exposure, while maintaining access for adults seeking an alternative to smoking.
He said it was clear the store-within-a-store model had emerged as an unintended consequence of the current framework, “and we believe this loophole should be addressed to ensure the regulatory system operates as originally intended”.
Specialist vape retail should reflect genuine, standalone specialist premises with robust age-verification and compliance standards, not hybrid formats that blur the line with general retail, he said.
“We are committed to working constructively with regulators to strengthen the integrity of the specialist retail model while continuing to protect adult access to regulated, smoke-free alternatives.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
