Video: Vape-Free Kids rally in Hastings urges government to do more to protect children
A Vape-Free Kids rally held in Hastings has urged the government to do more "to protect our children from vapes".
Vape-Free NZ co-founders Marnie Wilton and Charyl Robinson along with concerned parents, children, local principals, Hastings District Councillors, Napier Deputy Mayor Annette Brosnan and former Health Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall attended the rally at the Clock Tower this afternoon.
Organiser and father Sukhdeep Singh said it had been months in the making, and came off the back of a protest last year against a vape store next to his eight-year-old son's school.
"Today it's just the beginning for us so we can put pressure on the government and ask them to take really urgent action. Because hundreds of shops around the country, they are next to the schools and it's very, very hard for parents to see that happening."
He urged those in power to think as a "father, think as a mother, don't think as a politician".
"Think from your heart. Do you really think having specialised vape shops next to school is a really good thing? Is it morally right? Or do you need to think about the social responsibility?"
Wilton said: "We are all here together to give a message to the government they need to do more to protect our children from vapes".
MORE TO COME.
