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Mission
statement
1) To
reduce tobacco smoking to the minimum.
2) To
protect the next generation by phasing out sales of smoked tobacco products
before 2025
Philosphical
position
Nicotine
and tobacco are here to stay: complete elimination is impossible.
However,
while nicotine is relatively harmless, and helpful for stopping smoking, combustible
tobacco (smoking tobacco, cigarettes) has killed 200,000 New Zealanders
and its commercial sale should be phased out. Freedom to grow tobacco
for personal use should remain.
To phase
out smoking tobacco sales, End Smoking NZ, other public health agencies
and government, need to
ensure smokers can buy attractive safer alternative nicotine products.
Aim
EndSmoking
NZ aims for near-zero smoking prevalence, by ensuring smokers can quit smoking and its
rituals: by
1.
Informing smokers of
their rights and options.
2.
Making
available for sale nicotine products which
1.
satisfies the smoker’s need
for nicotine;
2. sells
alongside cigarettes, at a lower price
3. make
it easier and less hassle to quit
3 Redoubling media efforts to encourage smokers to stop smoking.
4. Revising tax on tobacco products in
line with the death risks of using them.
For example, higher tax on hand-rolled cigarettes,
which, when rolled thin, still provide less costly smoking than
factory-made cigarettes. This encourages smokers to switch
to less risky products. www.endsmoking.org.nz/taxandrisk.htm
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Point
of difference
End
Smoking NZ not only promotes quitting smoking, but also promotes
switching to less dangerous products.
End Smoking
NZ supports policies to
(i) reduce nicotine to make
cigarettes less addictive; (ii) make cigarettes more expensive and
gradually less available.
5 Ensure nicotine products safety by regulation under
the Smokefree Environments Act. www.endsmoking.org.nz/nicregulations.htm
6 Reducing
addiction to cigarettes by reducing cigarette nicotine content.
§
Gradually reduce the nicotine content of smoked tobaccos (average 13 mg). This reduction plan
can be spread over several years. www.endsmoking.org.nz/lowernic.htm
§
Smoking prevalence will be reduced markedly after nicotine
content falls to 2 mg or less, (yield 0.2 mg) when most smokers will
lose the urge to smoke. Before this many will seek out nicotine from
other sources, such as e-cigarettes. www.endsmoking.org.nz/nicfadeout.htm
Objective
Halving
smoking by 2015
Ending
sales of cigarettes & smoking tobacco before 2025 to protect the next
generation (“The end
game”)
§
Outlaw smokes, not smoking.
Phase out cigarette sales (without making smoking illegal), once the above support
policies have been in place for five years (minimum)
and smoking prevalence is falling. www.endsmoking.org.nz/lawchanges.htm
§
To ask Parliament to prevent the perpetuation of smoking and
smoking deaths,
and to protect the next generation, by formally legislating to end the
sale of cigarettes to both adults and young people, with the ban to
take effect after a suitable phase-in period. The main task is to make a start.
Once sales cease,
cigarette deaths are expected decline from 4000 at present to 400 or
less within 15 years.
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