HAMILTON, Ontario, June 11, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Canadian Vaping Association (CVA) is concerned that many health organizations are calling for vaping regulations that would serve to advantage Big Tobacco owned vape brands.
Action on Health and Tobacco is amongst the organizations calling for removal of flavours from vape products. Flavoured vaping products have long been the scapegoat for rising youth vaping rates. However, the evidence has repeatedly shown that flavours have a nominal impact on youth use.
After Juul’s voluntary removal of flavours in the United States, The American Cancer Society conducted a study which concluded that without flavours available the youth vaping rates did not change. Instead of quitting vaping, youth simply switched to tobacco and mint vape products.
Another study published by The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “Tobacco Product Use and Associated Factors Among Middle and Highschool Students”, has also discredited flavours as a significant driver for youth use. This study concluded that only a small percentage of young people vape on a regular basis and that 56.1% of the teens surveyed whom had tried vaping had done so due to curiosity. The next most popular reason for trying vaping at 23.9% was that a “friend or family member used them”, while flavours came in only third.
The rise in youth vaping rates here in Canada directly correlates to the entrance of Big Tobacco owned vape brands. With the entrance of tobacco owned vape brands, came aggressive advertising campaigns which were not restricted to adult environments. Additionally, the products distributed by these brands have nicotine concentrations of 57 - 59 milligrams per millilitre, making them highly addictive, and the devices are very easily concealed. These Big Tobacco vape brands, such as Juul and Vype, normalized high nicotine “stealth” vaping. Their products are not reliant on flavours but on high nicotine concentrations. Additionally, these vape brands are primarily sold in gas stations and convenience stores which welcome patrons of all ages and sell almost exclusively high nicotine vape products. One the other hand, age restricted specialty vape shops derive around 90% of their revenues from low nicotine flavoured e-liquids.
Nicotine gum studies have proven that flavoured cessation products are better at reducing cravings for adult smokers than the equivalent unflavoured products. Thus, by banning flavours adult smokers are less likely to be successful in their efforts to quit combustible tobacco. In addition, the age restricted vape shops that focus their efforts on selling low nicotine products to adult reformed smokers will be pushed to close, while convenience stores continue to sell only the high nicotine products that attracted youth in the first place.
While many health organizations have suggested that Nova Scotia’s recent flavour ban is an example of strong legislation, the ban only served to advantage youths’ preferred high nicotine brands and to create a black market for flavoured vape products, thus increasing public health risks. The ban has also resulted in the scheduled closure of almost all specialty vape shops in the province, eliminating the only age restricted regulated retail access point. This only hurts reformed adult smokers that frequented these establishments to obtain low nicotine vape products and certainly does not address the issue of social sales, which has always been the most common access point for youth obtaining vaping products.
“If Big Tobacco developed a tobacco control framework to advantage themselves, they couldn’t have done better than what Nova Scotia has done,” commented Jody Allen, CVA Regional Chair and vape advocate.
The CVA commends health organizations for their continued efforts to protect youth from nicotine addiction. We simply ask that those in the open vapour industry be included in the discussions as their extensive knowledge will allow them to suggest sensible and effective evidence-based solutions. Flavour bans have no impact on youth vaping rates and propagate the potentially dangerous and unregulated illicit market. We strongly urge health organizations to review the evidence which shows that removing flavours will only serve to advantage Big Tobacco owned brands and to hurt adult smokers wishing to use flavoured products to successfully transition from combustible tobacco, the number one killer globally.
Daryl Tempest
Executive Director
dtempest@thecva.org
647-274-1867