Hamilton, ON, July 21, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On July 20th, Ministers Adrian Dix and Rob Fleming announced amendments to British Columbia’s Public Health Act and to the Tobacco and Vapour Products Control Regulation. The Canadian Vaping Association (CVA) commends the steps being taken by the BC government to protect youth while ensuring access to the most successful harm reduction products on the market for adults fighting their addiction to combustible tobacco.
The new regulations limit nicotine concentrations to 20mg/ml, inline with the limit previously established in the European Union. As a result of their limit on nicotine concentration, Europe has seen very little youth uptake. The CVA has long called on government to enforce nicotine concentration limits in an effort to curb youth uptake in Canada and is pleased to see this included in the new regulations.
The regulations also prohibit the sale of flavoured vapour products outside of age restricted specialty stores and restrict advertising in any space that youth may be present. The CVA has been vocal in supporting such measures to further eliminate both youth access and curiosity.
“The CVA applauds the actions taken by the Government of British Columbia to protect youth. Vapour products are harm reduction tools intended only for adult smokers. These regulations have great potential to reduce youth uptake while supporting adult smokers that have switched to vaping to greatly reduce their harm,” said Darryl Tempest, Executive Director of the CVA. “We have consistently recommended many of the measures found within the new regulations and are pleased to see the BC government has developed regulations that are both balanced and equitable.”
It is however concerning that flavour restrictions could still be implemented pending recommendations from public health. The data has repeatedly shown that banning flavours has no impact on youth vaping rates and instead reduces both the number of smokers’ who transition from combustible tobacco and the success rate amongst those who are working through their transition to this much less harmful alternative. The CVA recommends that, before making any additional changes surrounding flavoured vaping products, the Government of British Columbia reviews the many conclusive studies which demonstrate that flavour bans serve only to increase combustible tobacco use, a far more harmful method of consuming nicotine.
British Columbia’s new vaping legislation demonstrates this government’s commitment to developing balanced regulation that will both protect youth while providing adults with access to the most successful harm reduction product globally. We applaud Ministers Adrian Dix and Rob Fleming for developing regulations that supports vaping as a tool to address the province’s leading cause of death, combustible tobacco.