New Zealand
A crackdown by the New Zealand government on tobacco has been labeled racist and discriminatory towards Māori and other minority groups by one of the country’s leading tobacco researchers. Since 2010 the government steadily increased the tax on tobacco, with the average cost of a pack of cigarettes projected to reach NZ$30 (US$21) by 2020.
According to the ministry of health, 18% of New Zealanders smoke regularly, with Māori and Pacific island peoples grossly over-represented. Despite government measures, smoking rates among these ethnic groups dropped only slightly in the past nine years, according to the New Zealand Health Survey 2014/2015. The biggest smokers in New Zealand are Māori women – at nearly 42%.
Prof. Dr. Marewa Glover, an associate professor at Massey University, said tobacco taxes hit the ethnic group least able to afford them and least likely to quit smoking long term.
“The tax on tobacco is a regressive policy that is really hurting people,” she said. “The attitude to smokers in New Zealand is pretty rabid, pretty mean, and there is a virulent smoking-basher culture. Māori and Pacific island peoples bear the brunt of this stigma, and Māori women disproportionately, even though they have entrenched stresses in their lives that make it more likely for them to start smoking, and then harder for them to quit.”
Recently the New Zealand government announced it would continue to raise the price of cigarettes until 2020, in line with its goal to be smoke-free by 2025.
“Thirty years ago smoking was a society-wide issue and taxes worked,” said Glover. “But now we can see there are wide disparities in smoking prevalence by ethnicity – with Māori the biggest smokers by far. This group has been paying more each year for cigarettes, even though it is a recognized addiction and now, smoker hatred is so bad in New Zealand that people feel justified giving smokers dirty looks on the street, or telling them to stop and being aggressive. These measures are really hurting people, and they aren’t working.”