The Canadian Lung Association is pleased to see Health Canada’s announcement on two important and potentially life-saving measures that would help protect young people from the harms of vaping. The two announced measures would target nicotine content and flavour restrictions, which if left unregulated, would continue to threaten the lung health of young Canadians.
Today’s announcement from Health Canada finalized a regulatory measure that would see maximum nicotine levels reduced to 20 mg/ml in vaping products, bringing Canada in line with other jurisdictions, including the European Union. Current regulations allowed for three times the nicotine level, resulting in an overexposure among young users.
Nicotine is a highly addictive drug. These new regulations will help prevent a new generation of young users from a lifetime of addiction to the substance via vaping or possible transition to traditional cigarettes.
“As we have long been asserting, it’s time for every one of us to get our heads out of the vape cloud and make aggressive changes to help protect our youth. Today’s announcements help to do that,” says Terry Dean, president and CEO, The Canadian Lung Association.
Additionally, Health Canada announced a ban on flavours with an exemption of mint, menthol and tobacco flavours.
Flavours remain one of the most powerful marketing tools to attract young users. They are one of the top reasons that young people start using vaping products and one of the leading reasons they continue to do so.
The Canadian Lung Association has long advocated for a comprehensive ban on flavours, with the exception of tobacco flavours. Continued inclusion of mint and menthol remains a concern, as these flavours are listed as the second leading flavours among youth. Removing these would make already strong restrictions even more potent.
“We look forward to working with the government during the consultation process to ensure that these restrictions are robust and strengthened to include mint and menthol, which we know is a remaining draw for young users,” adds Dean.
For more information about vaping, visit www.lung.ca/vaping.
