Kerre Woodham: The phone ban is working - let's get on with banning vapes

So the Government's 'Phones Away For The Day' regulations came into force in state schools and kura at the beginning of term two. Schools must ensure students do not use or access a phone while they're attending school, including during lunch time and breaks.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced the policy before the election last year and there were the typical naysayers saying that'll never work. How can you enforce it, the children need their phones to be able to contact their parents, it's going to put more pressure on teachers, and so on and so forth.

Dr Eric Crampton: Difficult to see method in the Government’s moves to tackle youth vaping

Captain Williard’s response to Colonel Kurtz’s question about his methods, in Apocalypse Now, is among the most classic lines in cinema. Kurtz, who had clearly gone mad, asked Willard whether Willard saw Kurtz’s methods as unsound. Willard replied, “I don’t see any method at all, sir.”

The line came to mind while reading the cabinet paper on proposed vaping reforms.

The government is clearly responding to schools and parents’ concerns about youth vaping.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 21/3/24

Willis is undeterred by GDP slowdown and IMF advice, although she is talking of “tax relief” rather than tax cuts

One minister is talking tough while a colleague – whose ministry had acted tough and drawn a barrage of flak – has shown an official softening.

Some ministers are doing what Labour was good at, which is distributing public funds to causes regarded as worthy or needy, while another has portended the prospect of a contentious Labour decision – to shut down the Marsden Point oil refinery – being reversed.

Kate Hawkesby: Alarming new data on vaping

So we got new data yesterday on vaping, and it's nothing short of alarming.  

We here in NZ are among the biggest vapers in the developed world. The OECD found 8.2% of people aged 15 or older regularly vape in New Zealand, which puts us in second place, just behind Estonia.  

I was speaking to a specialist cardio sonographer the other day, and she was telling me that she thinks we’re going to find out down the track that vaping is worse than smoking. We just don't have enough research on it yet, but the toxins you're inhaling when you're vaping... no good can come of that. 

Kate Hawkesby: I wonder if the Govt. regrets dropping the ball

As we reflect on the —let’s be frank— end of this government’s tenure, I can’t help thinking about all the stuff they dropped the ball on, that I wonder if they regret.  

Mental health, the $1.9 billion none of us know where it is. Light rail. Child poverty. Kiwibuild, a tangible disaster. Not taking the country with them when they had a majority, an unheard of opportunity to take us with them, and they blew it.  

The MIQ shenanigans, the shutting of the borders for so long, the crime levels, the co-governance, three waters, they had so much promise, and they just dropped the ball on it all. Too many consultants, too many reviews, too many ministers with scandals and issues that saw them off one by one, just too much chaos. 

Kerre Woodham: Parents concerned about vaping - what can you do about it?

We were rather overtaken by events yesterday, but it didn't really matter because Labour kept changing its views on the best policy to combat youth vaping.

In June, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Health Minister Ayesha Verrall announced the Government would be stopping new vape shops from being allowed to open within 300 metres of schools or marae, cutting down on disposable vapes and restricting the descriptions on product flavours.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 22/8/23

Govt is dishing out free meds and free mental health services – and it looks like truants’ parents can stay free of prosecution

The word “free” has been dubiously bandied by Health Minister Ayesha Verrall in two of her three press statements over the past 24 hours or so.

She has been enthusing about

Kate Hawkesby: I fear the vaping epidemic horse has bolted

The vaping epidemic in this country really grinds my gears, because it was all so avoidable.

We let the horse bolt, for years, and then sat on our hands until it well and truly took hold, until every school in the country, alongside thousands of parents, were all crying out for legislation and restrictions around it – until we took it seriously.

And then we set up endless committees, reviews, and inquiries around it – only to tell us what we already knew – it was a major problem.

John MacDonald: We need to follow Australia's lead on vaping

I’m going to say it how I mean it right from the start. I despise vaping.

I also despise all those shiny vape shops. And how dairies have cashed-in on this appalling poison that was supposed to be the great saviour for people addicted to cigarettes.

What a crock that was, wasn't it? And we know it was a crock because now we have kids and teenagers - and probably some older people too - sucking on these blimmin’ vapes even though they’ve never smoked a cigarette.