Dairy owners are shocked their 96.7% compliance selling vapes has counted for absolutely nothing when impending law changes will likely result in another dairy manager being murdered.

“These changes to selling vapes will see more assaults and its sadly foreseeable another dairy manager will end up murdered,” says Manish Thakkar, Chair of the Dairy and Business Owners Group Incorporated.

“Right now, vapes are grabbable if the cigarette cabinet’s too hard to get into. Thieves, especially younger ones, will grab and go with the vapes as they steal to order. The flavours we sell aren’t remotely popular with the young but are easily fenced to adults.

“But putting vapes inside new cabinets alongside the smokes will massively increase the violence we face and reward theft. Having been on the receiving end I can tell you the blood is real and the threats are brutal, terrifying and foully expressed.

“In the first 62-days of the Government’s new financial year, July and August, there were almost 15 retail crimes every hour of every day. That includes 700 physical and sexual assaults, 172 robberies, 1,163 burglaries and 19,996 thefts.

“For a Government that claims to be business friendly, six months to comply is ridiculous. Back in 2011, when the cigarette display ban came in, John Key gave us a year as there’s a real cost and need to reorganize the store.

“The law selling vapes has only changed in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024 and despite HealthNZ finding we were 96.7% compliant in the first half of 2024, we’re the ones being punished on the basis of hearsay and inuendo.

“Let’s get real. Mint, menthol and tobacco vapes don’t turn kids into vapers just like wine and beer in supermarkets don’t turn kids into drinkers.

“What’s more ASH, who are the experts here, found regular youth vaping was down 19% in the two years to 2023 while they independently verified dairies were 96.5% not responsible for teen vaping.

“As our high compliance selling of mint, menthol and tobacco counts for nought, we’re going to advise every dairy who can, to apply to become a specialist vape retailer.

“Most dairies were happy selling mint, menthol and tobacco but loss of display for what are three youth unfriendly flavours, tells us the government wants thousands more specialist vape retailers. They’ll get their wish,” Mr Thakkar said

Click here for a copy of the Dairy and Business Owners’ Group evidence: https://www.parliament.nz/resource/en-NZ/54SCHEA_EVI_c1c0d0ab-3725-4ae8-0607-08dccd28b5ec_HEA3425/f27bc616492d030d8ba83fee2210deb15d124d78

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