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Canada will reinstate its ban on flavored vapes three years ago. The ban was approved by the government in June 2021 but has been dormant since then.
Under the regulations, Health Canada will provide vape manufacturers with a list of less than 100 permitted flavoring ingredients. And, it will mandate that only ingredients on the list can be used to make vape oils. But only tobacco, mint, and menthol flavors can use them.
At the same time, the use of any type of sweetener is strictly prohibited. In 2021, the agency said it estimated that 80-85% of existing products will need to be modified to meet the new requirements. Moreover, the regulations will provide for “sensory attribute standards that prevent the perception of sensations other than those typical of tobacco or mint/menthol.”
In other words, vape manufacturers will not be able to add caramel to tobacco flavoring. Also, they cannot add fruit flavoring in menthol flavors.
Quebec has implemented a ban since October last year. New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, the Northwest Territories, and Prince Edward Island have implemented similar regulations. Nuna has passed this ban, but no specific implementation date has been set.
But, over 70% of Canada’s population now has access to flavored vapes. Although these flavoring bans are being enforced.
Canada’s Health Minister Mark Holland pushed hard for the long-dormant ban. He got support from the Heart and Stroke Foundation, the Canadian Cancer Society, the Canadian Lung Association, and smaller anti-tobacco groups.
In a recent press conference, Holland says:
“I was with Heart & Stroke when we dealt with the issue of vaping. And there were many voices at that time, when information was uncertain, who said, ‘Let this exist as a cessation tool. Don’t take action.’ The result of that, unfortunately, was that the tobacco industry was able to addict a whole new cohort of young people—who had no exposure to nicotine—to something that’s absolutely deadly for their health. It has had very injurious outcomes for our health system.”
Canadian vape consumers say the ban will have a devastating impact on the legal consumption of vapes. And it will cause irreparable harm to the independent vape industry. There are approximately 1.8 million vape users in Canada. Most of them prefer flavors that are not permitted by the Ministry of Health. The proposed regulations will force many people back to smoking. Besides, it may create a vibrant disposable vape “black market”.
Concordia University economics professor Ian Irvine writes in the Financial Post:
“Legal businesses will be destroyed, as we have seen in Nova Scotia and Quebec. The illegal sector will thrive. Health Canada will have made Canadians less healthy by reducing the flow of cigarette quitters.”