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Havelock North teenager Sarah* took her first puff on a vape when she was 11.

Her 10-year-old friend had got her hands on one, and she tried it.

“My friend was pretty rebellious,” Sarah says.

Seven years later, Sarah is still vaping. She estimates she takes about 100 puffs a day now.

She says she doesn’t feel addicted and that there will be a point in her life when she won’t want to vape. But for now, she has no interest in quitting.

“I’m young. Let me make dumb decisions. Some people are smoking far worse things.”

But experts and local body politicians say starting on an addictive substance at such a young age is problematic, and they are alarmed by the amount of youth vaping in Hawke’s Bay.

EIT researcher, Associate Professor Anita Jagroop-Dearing, a member of the Stop Adolescent Vaping E-Cigarettes group formed in 2020, said the problem seemed to be out of control.

Increased school absenteeism, an inability to concentrate on school lessons due to nicotine addiction, and mental health problems were all being seen in the community, she said.

“We are concerned about the creation of this new generation of nicotine-dependent youth who are also graduating to cigarette smoking.”

Hawke’s Bay councils are also concerned. There’s 210 outlets to purchase vapes from in Hawke’s Bay.

Hastings District Councillor Ana Apatu and Napier Deputy Mayor Annette Brosnan, and their respective councils are backing a local ‘vape-free kids’ proposal. Hawke’s Bay representative, Sukhdeep Singh, is calling on the Government to take urgent action to curb youth access.

Sukhdeep Singh’s submission to the Government’s Smoke-Free Environments and Regulated Products Amendment Bill No. 2, presented 11 critical recommendations Photo / Paul Taylor

Singh’s submission to the Government’s Smoke-Free Environments and Regulated Products Amendment Bill No 2, presented 11 critical recommendations, including reducing vape retailer numbers and establishing greater distance requirements between vape stores and schools.

He said 71% of vape retailers operated within 800m of schools, making the products easily accessible to young people.

“Vaping is creating a health crisis for our youth,” Brosnan said.

“As a city and a country, we need to access every tool we can to counter the rapidly increasing trend in youth vaping.”

Brosnan said she would support the Government providing local authorities with increased powers to regulate vape store numbers and restrict their proximity to schools.

Similar to the 2013 Psychoactive Substances legislation, which effectively limited access to harmful substances, Brosnan said “bold, local measures” were needed to address it.

Apatu said local councils should have an opportunity to protect young people’s health.

Both Apatu and Brosnan want to restrict vape sales near schools and increase enforcement against retailers that illegally sell to minors.

Councils currently have no power to control where vape stores are set up in their towns and cities.

A team at EIT has recently finished a survey of more than 2000 students – both vapers and non-vapers – in Hawke’s Bay about the impact it has had on them.

The research is now being collated and will give an insight into vaping problems and triggers.

The project is being funded by EIT (Research Innovation Centre), the Health Research Foundation Hawke’s Bay and the Health Research Council.

Meanwhile, Sarah says her friends will continue to vape.

She started vaping consistently when she was 14, and it was easy to get them, despite being underage, she said.

“We just asked older people to buy them for us.

“All my friends vape. My parents were smokers. For this generation, it’s vaping. No different, really.”

The Hastings district has 16 specialist vape retailers and 74 general retailers, while Napier has 15 specialist vape retailers and 62 general.

In Central Hawke’s Bay there are three specialist retailers and 18 general and in Wairoa, there are six specialist vape retailers and 16 general.

* Not her real name

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.