Jack Tame: Casey Costello and the efficacy of heated tobacco products

Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

I've had a bit of time now to look at the so-called 'independent advice' released by Casey Costello on the efficacy of heated tobacco products which she's so curiously and steadfastly supported.

To remind you, there is one company that has been providing these heated tobacco products in New Zealand: Philip Morris.

That company's external relations manager is the former chief of staff for New Zealand First and while Casey Costello says she has no links to the tobacco industry and that the tobacco industry has nothing to do with the policies she supports, she insists the heated tobacco products have a 'similar risk profile to vapes,' and so she wanted to see the excise tax on these products halved.

What did the official advice say? First of all, the tax side - Philip Morris had a monopoly on the market, so it was hardly surprising that Treasury pointed out there was nothing that would make Philip Morris pass on excise tax cuts to consumers.

And then, the health side. The Ministry of Health could find "no compelling evidence of the devices helping to stop smoking" So then to justify such a move, halving the tax, you'd think Casey Costello would have to have some compelling evidence that Heated Tobacco Products were really effective as a smoking cessation tool, for people who weren't simply vaping instead.

Except, she didn't. Her evidence included an opinion piece, an article which says heated tobacco products *might* help smokers quit but could also attract non-smokers, an outdated study that doesn't mention heated tobacco products, a study of snus (which isn't a heated a tobacco product), an article talking about Japan, which doesn't have vaping and relied on data from Philip Morris International and the Tobacco Institute of Japan, one of whose founding members was Philip Morris International.

I mean, come on - I can't recall a time when such a poor standard of evidence has been cited by a Minister advocating for this kind of legislative change. This isn't some rando backbencher, this is a Cabinet Minister. We all deserve better.

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