The Facts
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Around 5,000 New Zealanders die each year from smoking.
- Smoking is the number one preventable cause of death in New Zealand.
- Tobacco is the only consumer product that kills half its users when used as the manufacturer intends.They will die an average of 15 years early.
- One in two smokers will die from smoking.
- Research shows young people who had at least one parent who smoked were three times more likely to be daily smokers, compared with those whose parents did not smoke.
- Using nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) doubles your chance of quitting successfully.
- Rollies are not a safer cigarette. Roll-your-own tobacco has more nicotine, tar and carbon monoxide than tailor-made cigarettes.
- Second-hand smoke is poisonous. It causes death and disease, killing around 350 New Zealanders every year.
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Quitting smoking will save you money. Most New Zealanders who smoke tobacco, smoke more than half a pack of cigarettes each day. If they quit smoking, they would save at least $50 a week, or $220 a month.
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All cigarettes are deadly. Many people believe that smoking tobacco with descriptors such as ‘light’ and ‘mild’ is less harmful to health compared with smoking regular tobacco. However, 'light' and 'mild' cigarettes are not safer to smoke.
The terms ‘light’ and ‘mild’ are being phased out in New Zealand as a result of a Commerce Commission warning in September 2008. In other countries where this has happened, the tobacco industry has replaced light and mild with other descriptions. These are just as misleading. For example, a ‘smooth’ cigarette is as poisonous as any other cigarette.
Other sources of information
The HSC produces fact sheets and reports that give research findings on a wide range of tobacco-related topics.
The Cancer Society has a number of information sheets. They are written with a high level of detail, particularly for health professionals.
ASH's fact sheets cover a range of tobacco-related topics including smoking statistics, disease, economics, cessation, composition of tobacco, youth smoking, nictotine and ethnic data.
The Smokefree Coalition website contains a concise summary of the health effects of smoking, including the effects of exposure to second-hand smoke and the poisonous ingredients found in tobacco products.
The New Zealand Cancer Society
Māori research and publications
ASH's website provides a number of fact sheets, including one that relates to Māori and smoking.
The Ministry of Health's Māori Smoking and Tobacco Use 2011 provides an overview of Māori smoking and tobacco use with easy-to-use statistical information.
The Quit Group's website provides links to a number of publications, many with particular reference to Māori and Māori smoking rates.
The HSC's Tobacco Control Facts at a Glance provides useful facts about tobacco control.
The Ministry of Health's New Zealand Tobacco Use Survey (NZTUS) provides an overview of tobacco use in New Zealand, predominantly for the year 2009. It includes findings from the 2009 New Zealand Tobacco Use Survey (NZTUS) and other relevant sources of data.
