Hamilton, ON, May 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Last week an order in council was signed to amend Nova Scotia’s Tobacco Access Act. The new regulations will restrict nicotine concentrations to 20 milligrams per millilitre, a measure the Canadian Vaping Association (CVA) has repeatedly called on the federal government to implement. This new regulation follows a flavour ban in Nova Scotia which came into effect on April 1, 2020. Prior to the implementation of the flavour ban, the CVA strongly cautioned that eliminating flavours would decimate specialty vape shops with the removal of 97% of their products, the vast majority of which were flavoured low nicotine products used by adult ex-smokers.
Kelly Cull a spokesperson for the Canadian Cancer Society has said that the organization is looking for further regulation requiring the sale of vapour products to be limited to adult-only access specialty vape shops. Ordinarily, this type of regulation would be commended by the CVA, however adult-only vape shops in Nova Scotia have been eliminated by the regulations recently enacted to ban flavours. The CVA made it clear to regulators and stakeholders that specialty vape shops were best poised to restrict youth access, but the Government of Nova Scotia refused to engage in any dialogue with the industry. In the wake of the flavour ban policy responsible for the closure of dozens of small businesses, the Canadian Cancer Society is now suggesting limiting sales to the same adult restricted vape shops that their advocacy has shut down.
“The remarks from Kelly Cull demonstrates just how little the Canadian Cancer Society understands this industry. If the Government of Nova Scotia truly wants to implement effective vaping policy, the flavour ban needs to be amended and the current taxation model needs to be restructured,” said Darryl Tempest, Executive Director of the CVA. “We vehemently agree that the sale of vape products should be limited to regulated adult-only specialty vape shops. However, as we have repeatedly warned the Government of Nova Scotia, banning flavours is putting independent and regulated age restricted retailers out of business and forcing many vapers in their province either to the black market or back to smoking. Under the current polices, the odds of additional smokers switching to vaping, a far less harmful alternative, is extremely unlikely,” concluded Tempest.
There has been significant research and data released by various credible sources which all concludes that flavours are not the cause of youth uptake. One such study released by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that among middle and high school students who have tried using e-cigarettes, a staggering 55.3% indicated that the reason for use was ‘I was curious about them’. The second most common reason for youth use, at 23.9%, was that a friend or family member used them. The legislation passed in Nova Scotia was based off a study prepared by Smoke Free Nova Scotia, which supported a stronger link between youth vaping rates and flavours. However, the survey methodology used by Smoke Free Nova Scotia, differs vastly from that used by the CDC. While credible scientific surveys must be conducted using random samples of the designated population, the respondents in Smoke free Nova Scotia’s study were self-selected and compensated at $10 per completed survey. This totally violates the rules of sampling and objectivity. Thus, it is no surprise that the findings of Smoke Free Nova Scotia’s survey have not been replicated in any other youth uptake study in Canada nor in any other country.
The Government of Nova Scotia has their facts all wrong; removing flavours only increases traditional tobacco use and does not prevent youth vaping. Several studies demonstrating these facts were presented to the Nova Scotia Government prior to the Smoke-free Places Act and the Tobacco Access Act amendments. These studies were acknowledged by the opposition parties, and repeated requests for amendments to the bill were brought forward by industry members, the public and members of the opposition. The Liberal Government chose to ignore the facts and move forward with harmful policies, that serve only to advantage Big Tobacco owned vape brands and the black market, while hurting those who have turned to vaping as a harm reduction tool.
Since its inception, the CVA has condemned the use of vapour products by youth and non-smokers. We call on regulators and public health associations to work with us to develop effective policy. All credible studies have proven that vaping is the most successful tool for tobacco harm reduction. Under the current regulations in Nova Scotia, adult smokers have limited options and no access to the education and support provided by specialty vape shops nor to the flavours that are so important to a successful transition from smoking. Rather than developing policies to address youth uptake or harm reduction of smokers, the Government of Nova Scotia appears to follow only the advice of those that share their narrow views, repeatedly implementing regulation that support black market products and consumption of combustible tobacco, the provinces leading cause of death.