The smoke-free co-ordinator at Turakina Māori Girls’ College in Marton in the central North Island has said there has been a significant decrease in smoking this year since the last of the three tiered increases in the tobacco tax came into effect on January 1, pushing the price of a pack of 20s to $14.
The smoke-free co-ordinator at a central North Island Māori girls’ boarding school, says the recent price hike of cigarettes has led to fewer rangatahi taking up the habit.
The deputy principal Kere Mihaere wants the Government to keep pushing up the price of cigarettes – because it is an effective cessation strategy.
He says the rising price also means parents or older members of the whanau are not buying as many cigarettes as they used to, which means the teenagers can not borrow cigarettes from them.
Kere Mihaere says anything the Government can do to intervene and stop Māori teenage girls from smoking benefits Māori people.
Turakina Māori Girls College has for many years had a proactive smoke free policy and has been praised in the past by the Whanganui District Health Board for its significant smoking reduction rates.
Source: Radio NZ
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