Kaipara in Northland is taking matters into its own hands as it tries to tackle the dramatic rise in the number of young Kiwis vaping.
Towns and cities across the country are dealing with an influx of vaping stores, which are hooking our young people into the habit.
Daily vaping by teenagers has tripled from 3.1 to 9.6 percent, according to Action for Smokefree 2025.
One Northland town is taking a stand calling for a nationwide crackdown on vape sales.
Kaipara District Council has proposed to restrict the sale of vaping products to specialist vape stores and develop proximity limits to prevent the clustering of vaping retailers to protect young Kiwis.
The remit passed with 79 percent support, which means from Kaipara the challenge has been picked up by councils across New Zealand.
Kaipara Mayor Jason Smith told AM on Friday that on a major Dargaville street there are three specialised vaping stores and 13 other stores where people can purchase vaping products.
"One of the challenges that we have is we have this… specialist vape store over here with this excellent signage, beautiful old facade. Now it's got really strict rules; 18 years and over are only allowed in the door, no children allowed, really strict rules for it, but for the others, there aren't those strict rules and of course, you can buy vape products online," he told AM co-host Melissa Chan-Green.
"For our community and communities across New Zealand, what we've got going on here in Dargaville is like a canary at the bottom of the mine kind of situation about the proximity and number of vaping products that are available to our young people as a gateway and a problem.
"Remember, most of these vaping products hate the nicotine in them, so it's not they're not just sugary air."
Watch the full interview above.
