Thefts targeting vapes, cigarettes, and tobacco persist across the country and in Tauranga as shown by a recent break-in on Girven Road.

On Tuesday, April 2, the Girven Road Micromart in Tauranga was broken into by two youths, and it’s clear that this was not the dairy owner's first rodeo.

“This stuff is happening more,” says one of the shop workers.

After one of the youths had broken into the dairy, they headed straight for the vape pods, collected as many as they could and left, says the worker.

Girven Road Micromart. Photo: Ayla Yeoman.

They didn’t take anything else, they used the cash register as a step to reach the vape pods.

“Thefts targeting vapes, cigarettes, and tobacco persist across the country and are not a new issue,” says a police spokesperson.

“Items like these are easily transportable and can easily be sold-on, making them a desirable target for thieves.

“Police recognise that break-ins of this type of nature are incredibly distressing to retailers, and we have a range of resources and advice available on the police website to help retailers prevent themselves from becoming victims https://www.police.govt.nz/advice-services/businesses-and-organisations/retail-crime-prevention-hub.”

Government priority

Tauranga MP Sam Uffindell and Bay of Plenty MP Tom Rutherford both say restoring law and order is a priority for the government.

“This government is going to ensure there are real consequences for serious young offending, by establishing Young Offender Military Academies and creating a new Young Serious Offender designation.

Bay of Plenty MP Tom Rutherford. File Photo.

“We intend a pilot programme for the Military Academies will be in place this year, ready to start setting young offenders on a more productive path.

“The Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act will be amended to ban the manufacture and sale of disposable vaping products.

“We are making this change because too many teenagers are using disposable vapes as they are cheap and easily accessible.”

Tauranga MP Sam Uffindell. File Photo.

Sam empathises with dairy owners and says they should never feel unsafe in their workplace and in some cases their own homes.

Both Sam and Tom says this is why this Government is working hard to restore law and order in New Zealand.

“We are doing this through a sweep of measures including backing police to crackdown on gangs, extending rehabilitation to prisoners on remand so we can intervene earlier, and we are taking decisions to restore Three Strikes.

“We want to deter people from committing these crimes.

“This is a Government that cares about the victims of crime and we are determined to put the community first and restore public safety,” says Sam and Tom.

Youth vaping an “epidemic”

“Thousands of vaping retailers could be flouting the law with little more than a slap on the wrist if the government continues to turn a blind eye and invest in the wrong places,” says the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation.

Asthma and Respiratory Foundation NZ chief executive Letitia Harding says that news of job cuts in the Regulated Products Team at the Ministry of Health was unfortunate, but not surprising.

"From what we understand, they aren’t the ones on the ground ensuring thousands of vape retailers are complying with the law.

"What we want to see is the Government turning its attention to investing in positions doing that mahi on the ground."

“An investigation last year revealed the Vaping Regulatory Authority (VRA) - a division of the Ministry of Health - had the equivalent of just three-and-a-half staff, only one of whom is full-time, with a regulatory manager only paid to work 10 hours a week.

"This was not enough to tackle the youth vaping epidemic then, and it’s not enough now," says Letitia.

“A vaping retailer visited by the Foundation last week revealed numerous non-compliant vaping products in store.”

Letitia says, with no commitment from the Government to cap the number of Specialist Vape Retailers — currently sitting at 1530 — there needs to be constant investment in vaping compliance officers.

Ministry of Health. File Photo.

"They need to be investing in people on the ground, those visiting shops and checking the products online to make sure they meet all the legal requirements.

"Perhaps the Ministry of Health aren’t the ones who it should fall to — maybe it needs to be under the Ministry of Justice like liquor-selling establishments?" she says.

"But we need this investment, because, without it, our rangatahi will continue to get addicted to nicotine-containing vapes."

Letitia says, despite the Government vowing to tackle the youth vaping epidemic by banning disposable vapes, it does not address the issues surrounding underage sales and the lack of quit-vaping support services.

“Details provided to the Foundation under the Official Information Act show that the Vaping Regulatory Authority has launched an investigation into one company, which hosts two vaping websites, for failing to comply with the new vaping laws.

“This comes after inspecting 29 websites to check for compliance with product safety requirements, including selling products that did not appear to have a removable battery, did not comply with the nicotine strength labelling requirements or did not appear to have a child safety mechanism.

“The Ministry withheld the name of the company it is investigating — and the website domain names — due to the ongoing investigation and to protect the company’s right to a fair trial.

“The Ministry confirmed that no fines had been issued, but advised that the "breaches are not infringeable offences".

SunLive has approached the Ministry of Health for comment.