Kerre Woodham: If vaping is the lesser of two evils, why not?

Statistics released yesterday showed that New Zealand's smoking rate has fallen to an historic low of 8% of adults smoking daily, down from 9.4% a year ago, probably down from 99.4% about 50 years ago.

I might have just made-up that last one.

Associate Minister of Health Doctor Ayesha Verrall said the Government's plan to reduce smoking is working. The number of people smoking fell by 56,000 over the past year, despite the pressures and stress of the pandemic, which is a good point and smoking rates are now half of what they were ten years ago.  

However, the numbers of people vaping are up and that concerns the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation. These rates continue to climb dramatically they say, particularly amongst young New Zealanders aged between 15 and 24 and amongst Maori women.  

According to the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation, vaping has been promoted by the Ministry of Health as a smoking cessation tool. If it's working then we should see the rates of smoking falling across the board, but that's not what the stats show.

It's particularly worrying, they say, that youth smoking rates are static after falling for many years, while vaping rates continue to rise rapidly in this group. 

They've got a pilot program. And they're hoping to roll that out in the regions next year. We've all got something, haven't we? Is there anybody who does not have a bad habit?

You know, even if you're not a drinker or smoker or drug taker. You might be a nail biter, a teeth grinder, or something.

We've all got something. We know that smoking is bad for you. We've made it so expensive that we're helping you help yourself, even if you don't want to.

I mean there would be very few people who could afford to smoke a couple of packs a day.

It's become almost socially unacceptable to be a smoker, a vaper, however, is another matter.

Goodness me so many people who smoke, end up with lung disease. End up literally coughing their lungs out in their dying days, huh? How can this be?

And we haven't got that yet for vaping. It appears that the jury is still out. So while you don't know it's bad for you, you can keep doing it.

Yet for a lot of people smoking vaping it's the inhalation, and the acceleration of breath that is the calming. That's the calming action. It's not so much the nicotine, it's the fact that you're doing the deep breathing. It's an adult version of a pacifier.

Putting something in your mouth calms you down. 

I get where the asthma and respiratory foundation are coming from saying that anything, any foreign bodies, inhaling any kind of chemicals, any kind of substance you inhale is going to be bad for you.

But is it really as bad as smoking? Do we really need programs working with youth to educate and help quit vaping? I know there are people who are absolutely into it. But like I say we've all got something, haven't we? And if this is the lesser of two evils, why not? 

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