Summary
A year after major law changes were introduced to reduce youth vaping, new findings from an audit of specialist vape retailers tell a mixed story. Vaping products are less visible in retail settings and disposable vapes have largely disappeared from the shelves, but the continued availability of very low-cost products and significant gaps in retailer compliance threaten to undermine the policy’s aims.
This Briefing highlights the need for a policy response to ultra-low-cost vapes and outlines a more comprehensive strategy to reduce youth vaping by addressing the appeal, affordability, and accessibility of vaping products.
On 17 June 2025, Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) introduced new laws intended to reduce youth exposure and access to vaping products. The measures disallowed sales of disposable vapes and introduced tighter rules around product visibility, advertising and marketing practices.1
The measures represent the most recent policy response to NZ’s concerning youth vaping rates. Daily vaping among 15-17 year olds peaked at 15.8% in 2022/23, while the peak among 18-24 year olds was 26.1% a year later.2 The prevalence of youth vaping in NZ is about double that in Australia, the USA and Canada.3 Findings about youth vaping since the June 2025 law changes are not yet available, but a retail compliance audit conducted shortly after the new laws were introduced, and recently published in the international journal Tobacco Control, provides important insights.4
Concerning gaps in retailer compliance
The study, conducted in metropolitan Wellington, provides one of the first independent assessments of how the new measures are operating in practice within specialist vape stores. Researchers used a mystery shopper approach and visited almost every specialist vape retailer in the region (87 stores, representing 98% of specialist vape retailers). The study assessed retailers’ compliance with the new rules, tested age-verification practices, and examined the availability of low-cost vaping products after implementation of the 17 June law changes. The findings present a mixed picture.
Although disposable vaping products were substantially less available—only 5% of retailers were observed continuing to sell disposable vape products—compliance with other youth protection measures was more varied. Researchers found vaping products were visible from outside almost one-quarter of stores (24%), despite restrictions intended to reduce public exposure. Four in ten stores (40%) displayed advertising that was not permitted, while 5% continued to use promotional practices such as discounting, giveaways or loyalty schemes that were no longer allowed. More than half of stores (52%) breached at least one of the legal requirements examined.
Age verification practices were also inadequate in over half of stores. Specialist vape retailers are required by law to take all practicable steps to prevent anyone under 18 years old from entering their premises and may not sell vaping products to minors.5 The Ministry of Health expects retailers to request identification from anyone who appears younger than 25.6 Yet nearly half of stores visited (48%) failed to request identification from the 21-year-old mystery shopper. Among retailers who did ask for ID at purchase, one in four (24%) proceeded with the sale despite the buyer not providing ID.
Industry has rapidly filled the gap with cheap reusable products
The study’s most important finding may be about how the market has responded to the removal of disposable vapes. The policy aimed to remove the affordable, convenient, and youth-appealing characteristics of disposables. However, the audit found that the industry has rapidly filled the gap with cheap reusable products that share many of the same attributes. The researchers found that reusable starter kits were widely available at very low prices, with 89% of stores selling starter products for NZ$15 or less. Two-thirds of stores sold kits for NZ$10 or less. The shift in the market over 18 months has been marked as, in January 2024, a similar audit found only one brand offered a NZ$10 reusable kit and most stores' cheapest option cost over NZ$15.7
Cheap reusable products retain the features research shows attract young people to disposables: low upfront cost, wide flavour range, and convenience.8,9 Furthermore, very low-cost kits may encourage users to discard and replace devices rather than reuse them, undermining the environmental benefits of disallowing single-use products.
The findings highlight a broader challenge facing policymakers internationally. The nicotine industry has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to adapt quickly to regulatory changes through product redesign and innovation. Measures focused narrowly on a specific device type may therefore lead to shifts in product formats rather than sustained reductions in youth uptake.
What is needed now
These findings point to several policy priorities. Stronger enforcement — including powers of seizure — is needed. Age verification must improve significantly if the policy’s youth protection goals are to be realised. Further, the widespread availability of ultra-cheap reusable products with similar features to disposables demands a policy response: minimum pricing, further tightening flavour restrictions, or introducing an excise tax on vaping products (which NZ, unlike many comparable countries,10 does not currently apply) are options that warrant urgent consideration.
The June 2025 measures mark a meaningful step in reducing the visibility and normalisation of vaping in NZ’s retail environment. However, without stronger enforcement and a more comprehensive strategy to address the appeal, affordability and accessibility of all vaping products, the impact of these measures on youth vaping rates may prove limited.
Future policy responses need to take a more comprehensive approach to reduce young people’s exposure to and use of vaping products. Strengthening enforcement and improving retailer compliance is critical to ensuring that regulatory measures achieve their intended public health outcomes.
What this Briefing adds
- New laws introduced 17 June 2025 aimed to reduce youth vaping in NZ by disallowing sales of disposable vapes and tightening product visibility, advertising and marketing restrictions.
- A compliance audit of metropolitan Wellington specialist vape stores found few continued to sell disposable vapes following the ban, however compliance with advertising and visibility restrictions was poor, as were age verification practices.
- Disposable vapes have been replaced with ultra-low-cost reusable products with similar youth-appealing attributes.
Implications for policy and practice
- Because of rapid industry adaptation, measures focused on specific device types may have limited impact on youth vaping.
- Stronger enforcement and a more comprehensive strategy is needed to address the appeal, affordability and accessibility of vaping products.
- Minimum pricing, further tightening flavour restrictions, and introducing excise tax on vaping products are policy options that could be considered.
Authors’ details
Dr Jude Ball, Co-Director of ASPIRE Aotearoa Research Centre, and Senior Research Fellow, Department of Public Health, Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka, Pōneke | University of Otago Wellington
Prof Janet Hoek, Co-Director of ASPIRE Aotearoa Research Centre, and Department of Public Health, Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka | University of Otago
Calvin Cochran, Research Fellow, ASPIRE Aotearoa Research Centre, Department of Public Health, Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka, Pōneke | University of Otago Wellington
Lesieli Katoa, Research Assistant and medical student, Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka, Pōneke | University of Otago, Wellington.
Disclosure statement
Calvin Cochran also works part-time as the policy lead for Vape-Free Kids NZ
