BEAMSVILLE, Ontario, Aug. 16, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On Sunday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the federal election. Election campaigning will coincide with Health Canada’s consultation period for the proposed vape product flavour restrictions. A website has launched that will track the number of Canadian deaths caused by smoking throughout the election campaign.
A coordinated misinformation campaign has led many Canadians and officials to mistakenly believe that vaping is as or more harmful than smoking. According to Health Canada:
- Vaping products deliver nicotine in a less harmful way than smoking cigarettes.
- Vaping products may reduce health risks for smokers who cannot or will not quit using other methods.
- Vaping products contain a very small fraction of the 7,000 chemicals found in tobacco smoke, and where present, they are at significantly reduced levels.
Public Health England has stated that vaping is 95% less harmful than smoking and NHS Scotland have echoed this statement through the issue of a consensus statement.
Smoking is a pandemic; it is the leading cause of death and preventable disease in Canada and globally. This year, 45,000 Canadians will die from smoking related disease and illness.
“Health Canada has recognized the relative risk of vaping and acknowledged evidence of the importance of flavours for vaping adoption by smokers and continued abstinence from smoking. It is confounding that the department is continuing to pursue these harmful restrictions,” said Darryl Tempest, Executive Director of the CVA.
Vaping has presented a tool to reduce tobacco use faster than previously thought possible. As a harm reduction nation, restricting flavoured vape products is misaligned with Canada’s other harm reduction initiatives. Flavour restrictions will increase tobacco use and extend the lifecycle of combustible products.
Contact:
Darryl Tempest
Executive Director
dtempest@thecva.org
647-274-1867
