Should smoking be banned?

Greg Taipari | 10th March 2010

Rotorua woman Katerina Pihera wants to ban tobacco - because she believes tobacco companies target Maori who are dying in their hundreds every year.

The Ngati Rangiwewehi representative board member for Te Roopu Hauora o Te Arawa was part of a group addressing the Maori Affairs select committee in Rotorua yesterday.

The select committee is investigating the historical actions of the tobacco industry to promote tobacco use among Maori, the effects of smoking on Maori and what new tobacco control measures could be considered to help reduce the impact it is having.

Ms Pihera told the committee she and her friends began smoking from an early age.

"For young Maori women there's a concept that smoking is cool, it will help you lose weight and makes you more attractive - and many people buy into it. I did, too."

A New Zealand health survey showed 50.1 per cent of Te Arawa Maori in the Lakes District Health Board region smoked in 2003 compared with 25.2 per cent of non-Maori. It also showed more than 55 per cent of Maori women smoked. As many as 5000 New Zealanders die from smoking-related health issues each year - 600 of them Maori.

Ms Pihera, who gave up smoking four years ago, said too many Maori were senselessly dying every year and she wanted a country-wide ban on tobacco.

 Te Roopu Hauora o Te Arawa chairwomen Kiri Potaka-Dewes said tobacco companies were targeting young Maori women.

"Tobacco companies are an evil presence. They ought to be banned. I don't think anything good comes from smoking."

The select committee held its first hui in Rotorua yesterday at Novotel Rotorua Lakeside on Tutanekai St, and will hold similar hui in Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington throughout the week.

Tipu Ora auahi kore health promoter Anaru Bidois said the first hui was in Rotorua because of tour guide Dorothy Huhana "Bubbles" Mihinui, who died in 2006.

Mrs Mihinui took on the Government in 2000, when she filed a Waitangi Tribunal claim with the Maori Council, which forced the Government to join tobacco companies as defendants in a High Court action.

She alleged Maori people's health had been prejudiced by the Government's failure to warn of the dangers of smoking. Mr Bidois, who was also giving a submission at the hui, said Mrs Mihinui was a visionary and thanks to her insight in 2000 Te Arawa were taking the first step in bringing an end to the sale of tobacco.

The committee has received submissions from nearly 2000 people. It will report its findings and recommendations to Parliament.