The Briefing

Party pills now have stringent government-promulgated rules and processes. All but one MP voted for the new law. The irony is that tobacco – and for that matter alcohol – with orders of magnitude more harm gets the wet bus ticket regulatory treatment.

A New Zealand randomized trial of e-cigarettes just published in the prestigious Lancet journal has been touted in the media as showing how good e-cigarettes are for people wanting to quit smoking.  Professory Tony Blakely says this is overstating the study findings.

It is now time to reduce the number and density of retail outlets selling tobacco.  Retail supply restrictions are both a logical component of policies that will achieve a tobacco-free New Zealand by 2025, and what the majority of consumers want.

It’s official, this was the warmest winter ever recorded for New Zealand according to NIWA scientists. Continuing warming of the planet may pose significant risks of run-away climate change and catastrophic levels of damage to human civilisation – a public health threat on a scale larger than we usually consider.

The “100% Pure” marketing of NZ has been in the news. This blog suggests there is a case for striving to achieve the “100% level” through 100% elimination of a hazard or risk. Namely, tobacco, human papilloma virus (HPV), measles, and rotavirus.