WELLINGTON, May 23 (Xinhua) -- A New Zealand study has found vape stores are proliferating in New Zealand's most deprived communities, with many also located near schools.
Large inequities in access to vaping products are highlighted in the investigation, with far more vape stores in New Zealand's most deprived neighborhoods compared to less deprived communities, according to the study published on Thursday by scholars of the University of Canterbury (UC) in the peer-reviewed academic journal Social Science & Medicine.
The study also finds almost 30 percent of New Zealand's vape stores are within 400 meters of schools and 71 percent are within 800 meters.
The study's lead author, UC public health expert Matt Hobbs said researchers have been surprised by just how many vape stores are near schools and to see the magnitude of difference between the numbers of vape stores in the most deprived and least deprived communities.
The number of these stores in the least deprived areas is hardly going up at all over time, whereas they are increasing rapidly in the most deprived areas that also tend to have a larger proportion of Maori, Pacific and Asian residents, Hobbs said.
"The gap between more affluent and more deprived areas is getting bigger over time," he said after taking a closer look at how this has developed over time and where the vape stores were.
The New Zealand government announced new regulations last August to limit youth vaping, including no new specialist vape shops within 300 meters of schools. ■
