Abstract
As part of the Government’s plan to achieve the Smokefree 2025 goal, many stop smoking providers are now offering free vape starter kits. In this Briefing, we investigate the likely impact free vape starter kits will have on the number of people who stop smoking, using both optimistic and pessimistic assumptions. We find that, at best, this policy is likely to support fewer than 500 people to stop smoking this year. This estimate is less than 1% of the 82,000+ people who need to quit if we are to achieve the Smokefree 2025 goal. Consequently, Aotearoa will fall far short of the Smokefree 2025 goal. We urgently need additional plausible measures, such as denicotinisation, to support rapid and equitable reductions in smoking prevalence.