Hamilton (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — On July 8, the Federal Government released updated marketing and advertising regulations in response to youth vaping rates. The regulations prohibit vaping product promotions in any place youth are present.
Since 2018, The Canadian Vaping Association has called on the Federal Government to ban national advertising campaigns and to restrict advertising to specialty vape stores, where youth are prohibited from entering.
Darrl Tempest, Executive Director for the Canadian Vaping Association noted:
Within the Gazette, Health Canada also notes the request for relative risk statements, indicating that some responses to their requests for commentary “suggested that health warnings be accompanied by authorized statements that compare the health effects of vaping to those of smoking. There was a concern that, without such statements, adult smokers would not be aware of the tremendous potential benefits of completely switching to vaping. The objective of the current Regulations is to address the rapid increase in vaping product use by young persons and to warn about the harms of vaping product use. Additional regulatory measures, such as authorizing statements comparing the health effects of tobacco products and vaping products are still under consideration.”
“The CVA greatly commends the steps taken by government to protect youth, however we believe that their deferral of regulations authorizing relative harm statements is to the detriment of public health,” said Darryl Tempest, Executive Director of the CVA. “45,000 Canadians will die this year from smoking related illness. Vaping has been proven to be the most effective cessation product globally, with users nearly twice as likely to be successful quitting smoking through vaping than through any other method. It is unfortunate that many smokers are unaware that vaping will significantly reduce their harm. We hope to see the government rectify this in the next set of vaping regulations as we are confident this will be the motivation required for many smokers to switch to this life saving product.”
While the CVA appreciates the need to enact regulation quickly to prevent youth uptake, the organization urges Health Canada to promptly authorize relative risk statements. Vaping is an incredibly successful harm reduction product, which can save the lives of hundred of thousands of Canadians. It is paramount that the harm reduction potential of vaping products is known by all smokers.
