Vaping took off among young people in New Zealand faster than regulation could keep pace with it. As a result, schools have spent the last few years dealing with the fallout. The good news is that the picture is improving. The latest ASH (Action for Smoking and Health) Year 10 Snapshot Survey, published in December 2025 and covering more than 31,000 students, found that regular vaping (at least monthly) among 14–15-year-olds has fallen to 11.2%. This is down from 14.1% in 2024. It is also well below the 2021 peak of 20.2%. Daily vaping is now at 7.1%. The share of students who say they’ve ever tried vaping has dropped to 31.0%. This is the fourth consecutive year of decline.
The improvement isn’t even across the board. Regular vaping sits at 23.9% for Māori students and 14.2% for Pacific students, compared with 8.7% for Pākehā/European students. These are all lower than the year before. However, it’s still a reminder that the risk isn’t distributed evenly. Vaping is often marketed as a safer alternative to smoking, and for adult smokers trying to quit it can be. But for young people, whose brains are still developing, nicotine exposure carries real risks. That’s the group these numbers are about.
The disposable vape ban is now in force
Since 17 June 2025, the manufacture, distribution, sale and supply of disposable vapes has been banned outright in New Zealand. These were the cheap, brightly coloured, heavily flavoured devices that did the most to pull young people into vaping. Getting them off the market was one of the government’s central moves. Rechargeable pod-style devices are still legal, but they now have to meet stricter safety standards. Nicotine concentration is capped at 28.5 mg/mL. Devices must require either two simultaneous actions or five sequential actions to activate. Vapour production must cut out automatically after 10 minutes of continuous use. Batteries must be removable. Penalties for breaching the ban run up to $400,000 for a manufacturer, importer or large retailer, and $50,000 for anyone else.
Tighter rules on sale and marketing
Alongside the disposable ban, only licensed specialist vape retailers and online stores can sell vaping products at all. General retailers can no longer stock or display them. Specialist stores can’t make their products visible from outside the shop. Vending machine sales are gone, and advertising (including on social media) is heavily restricted. New vape stores can’t open within 300 metres of a school or marae, or within 100 metres of an early childhood centre. Fines for selling to a minor have jumped from $10,000 to $100,000 for a company, and from $5,000 to $10,000 for an individual. Together, these changes are aimed at making vapes harder to find, less appealing, and less likely to end up in a school bag in the first place.
Why schools are still installing vape detectors
Schools and kura are legally required to be smokefree and vapefree, indoors and outdoors, at all times. Even with vaping rates trending down, many schools are still turning to vape detectors as part of how they enforce that. These devices sense vapour and alert staff in real time, most commonly in bathrooms and changing rooms. This gives schools a way to intervene without needing a staff member physically present.
The case for them hasn’t changed much: they let schools respond immediately rather than relying on chance discovery, and they act as a deterrent simply because students know the space is monitored. The trade-offs are real too — cost can run into six figures for a large secondary school. Also, some schools have reported students removing or disabling units. Detectors work best as one part of a broader response, alongside education and clear enforcement. They are not a standalone fix.
Teltrac has a range of vape detectors to suit different school environments and budgets. Vaping in New Zealand schools remains a problem that needs government policy, school-level enforcement, and community support working together. Detectors help schools act on what’s happening, but they’re not the whole answer. Teltrac partners with two of the leading brands in this space: Verkada, a fully cloud-based platform, and Halo, whose detectors can run entirely stand-alone with no internet connection required. Both are built with privacy front of mind.
Contact Teltrac today to find the vape detector that’s right for your school.
Contact Teltrac today to get more information on the vape detector that is right for your situation.