Photo: 123RF
Levin health advocates are sounding the alarm over the vastly high number of vape outlets across the district. There are 10 specialist vape retailers in Levin, and eight of them are on the main street - Oxford Street. There are also 36 general vape retailers across wider Horowhenua, including dairies, garages, supermarkets, bottle stores and petrol stations. That's roughly one vape retailer per 750 people, compared to the one per 5000 in Auckland. According to local stop smoking service Te Ohu Auahi Mutunga, there were 3,379 smokers across Horowhenua as of late last year. Local health advocate and Te Rōpū Tupeka Kore spokesperson Catherine Manning says vaping is a scourge on small towns in particular, and being picked up mostly by people who were never smoking cigarettes.
