Halifax, NS, Feb. 25, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The government of Nova Scotia released their 2020 budget today which includes a new tax on vaping e-liquids. This comes after the government banned all flavoured e-liquids effective April 1, 2020, effectively wiping out the vaping industry in the province.
“The irony is that there will be virtually no e-liquids sold in the province after April 1 because the province has banned all flavoured e-liquids,” says Darryl Tempest, Executive Director, The Canadian Vaping Association. “They have regulated adult vaping out of business and now they want to tax the corpse.”
More than 90% of adult vapers use non tobacco flavoured e-liquids to get away from the taste of tobacco. By banning flavoured e-liquids the NS government knows it is driving ex-smokers back to smoking. It doesn’t make any sense. With this taxation policy the NS government is favouring big tobacco and their high nicotine products,” says Darryl Tempest.
The Canadian Vaping Association (CVA) shares the government's concerns about youth uptake and has recommended practical solutions to stop youth from accessing any vaping products. Vaping should be used only by adults trying to stop smoking. Youth should not have access to vaping products, period.
The CVA believes that eliminating youth access to vaping products is best achieved by limiting any sales to age-restricted adult only vape shops, decreasing the nicotine levels and controlling online sales.
The CVA calls on the province of Nova Scotia to provide an exemption to the flavour ban for adult only vape shops to protect thousands of adult vapers in this province.
“Without this exemption, all adult only vape shops will be wiped out and adults will be forced to the black market or back to smoking combustible tobacco. The government will not have any industry left to tax except cigarettes,” said Darryl Tempest.
About the Canadian Vaping Association
The Canadian Vaping Association (thecva.org) is a registered national, not-for-profit organization, established as the voice for the burgeoning Canadian vaping industry. Founded in 2014, the CVA represents over 300 retail and online vaping businesses in Canada, not including tobacco companies or affiliates. The association is the primary liaison with the federal and provincial governments on all legislative and regulatory issues related to the industry. The primary goal of CVA is to ensure that government regulation is reasonable and practical, through the strategy of professional proactive communication and education supplied bilingually to health officers, media, and elected officials.