The Wire with Max

On New Years Eve, the government announced a ‘free vape kit’ initiative to combat tobacco usage rates, as a part of Smokefree 2025 plans.

Associate Health Minister, Casey Costello, says those involved with the initiative will be provided with a vape device and a one month’s supply of nicotine pods each month for a three month period, with additional support from an anti-smoking service.

Costello says vaping has had a "key role," in lowering smoking rates, and that the government is in support of this initiative, as she says that "vaping is far less harmful than smoking cigarettes."

However, the advocacy group for doctors working in general practice; General Practitioners Aotearoa, have expressed concerns about this vaping kit, as they say the government is funding this initiative without strong scientific evidence to back up their claims.

The group referred to a study of individuals undergoing a 'vape to quit' programme, with findings showing that only 16% of participants fully quit both smoking and vaping.

News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to the Chair of General Practitioners Aotearoa, Dr Buzz Burrell, about the ‘free vape kit’ initiative, and using vaping as a cessation tool for tobacco usage, as well as whether this move takes into account communities disproportionately affected by nicotine consumption.

They started off by asking him about how much evidence there is that vaping is an adequate method to limit one’s tobacco addiction.

This podcast has been edited to take out the claim "…so if you inhale nicotine through a vape you've got an equal chance of developing lung cancer. So you're not reducing the lung cancer risk at all," as well as mentions of 'vape lung' (EVALI) regarding consuming nicotine from vapes. Despite ongoing research into these claims, there is not currently adequate data to back these points.

Recently, across the motu, we have seen a variety of fires, most recently being the fire on Māngere Mountain, which had resulted in smoke warnings for 40 kilometres, reaching all the way to Piha in West Auckland.

News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to Senior Lecturer in the School of Biological Sciences at the Victoria University of Wellington, and Fire Ecologist, Dr Nicola Day, about our susceptibility to wildfires amidst the climate crisis, and what needs to be done to better prepare for events such as these recent bouts of blazes in the future.

In November of 2024, Te Whatu Ora declared whooping cough an epidemic, and epidemiologists are expecting it will be the most challenging Aotearoa has seen. 

Whooping cough is a respiratory infection caused by a bacteria, and is dangerous for babies and toddlers. However, infection can be prevented by vaccination during pregnancy.

Producer Athena spoke to epidemiologist, and Research Fellow at the University of Auckland, Dr Hannah Chisholm, about the circumstances that led to the epidemic, and the necessity of vaccinations.

This week on the Monday Wire:

For our weekly catch up with the ACT Party's Simon Court, Producer Evie speaks to Simon about yesterday’s cabinet reshuffle, the Regulatory Standards Bill, and the technical issues with the Treaty Principles Bill submissions.

News and Editorial Director, and Monday Wire Host, Joel, speaks to a  Lecturer in the Communication Studies Department at the University of Otago, Dr Olivier Jutel, about the US TikTok ban, and whether he believes there are any bases for this ban in the United States.

Joel also speaks to 95bFM’s own Sam Ashton, aka ‘Smashton;’ co-host of the Top Ten, who is also a TikTok content creator with over 307k followers, about his thoughts on the US TikTok ban, and whether he believes this will create implications for New Zealand-based content creators.

Evie speaks to Chief Executive of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation, Paul Goulter about Simeon Brown replacing Dr Shane Reti as Minister of Health.

And Global Innovator, Matt Hart, joins us in studio to discuss part-time jobs and summer jobs.

Whakarongo mai!