Quebec to pull the plug on flavoured products in effort to curb vaping by minors
Restrictions on vaping concentration and capacity to come
Vaping products that contain flavours or aromas other than tobacco could soon be banned in Quebec under new rules proposed by the government Wednesday.
The Quebec government hopes the change to the provincial regulations will make vaping products less attractive to minors.
"We're not eliminating vaping, but we're eliminating flavours," Health Minister Christian Dubé told Radio-Canada in an interview. "There will only be the taste of nicotine and all other flavours will be prohibited."
The minister responsible for sports, Isabelle Charest, said the changes are about keeping "extremely harmful" products out of the reach of minors.
"They start to vape because they find it fun or attractive to have a vape pen that tastes like strawberries," she said, adding that sweet-flavoured products make up 90 per cent of what minors vape, with only the remaining 10 per cent choosing tobacco-flavoured products.
The draft regulations also include proposals to limit the maximum nicotine concentration in vaping products to 20 milligrams per millilitre, restricting vaping tank and capsule capacity to two millilitres and limiting the maximum volume refill capacity of liquid cartridges to 30 millilitres.
Vaping products will be prohibited from resembling toys, food or taking other forms that might be attractive to minors.
But the health minister acknowledged the difficulty in stopping the sale of vaping products online.
"We know there will be contraband," Dubé told reporters later today. "We know young people might get some [vaping products] online. We are aware of that, but in the same way we have limited flavours for cigarettes and cannabis, we say, 'it's not legal, don't do it.'"
The ministry also acknowledges the new rules will likely mean job losses and a drop in sales for companies primarily selling vaping products.
Health Canada proposed a ban on flavoured vaping products in 2021, citing research indicating that flavoured vaping products are "highly appealing to youth, and that youth are especially susceptible to the negative effects of nicotine – including altered brain development, which can cause challenges with memory and concentration."
The proposed ban still hasn't been put into effect.
Several provinces and territories have put in place their own limits on flavoured vaping products, citing their appeal to teenagers.
The Quebec Coalition for Tobacco Control welcomes the new measures proposed in the province.
"Banning flavours is the single most important measure to reduce the appeal of vaping to young people," spokesperson Flory Doucas said in a statement. "This draft regulation is long overdue and its publication, just as the industry is bringing a new generation of devices to market, is excellent news for the health of young people."
The Canadian Cancer Society said it commends Quebec's move, calling the new regulations "significant progress."
In 2020, two-thirds of minors between the ages of 12 and 17 who smoked cigarettes said they had tried electronic cigarettes first, according to Statistics Canada.
But the CDVQ, a coalition representing vapers' rights in Quebec, compared the measures to the prohibition of alcohol.
CDVQ spokesperson Valérie Gallant said banning the sale of vaping products would only cause vapers to go to the black market to get their products.
Daniel Marien, a spokesperson for the Vaping Industry Trade Association, also believes the changes will push minors toward the black market.
"Protecting young people is very important, but what we are doing here does not protect them at all," said Marien, arguing that minors purchase their vaping products illegally in the first place.
"On the other hand, this could encourage many adults to start smoking cigarettes again," he said.
As part of the new regulations, there will be a 45-day public consultation period for Quebecers to weigh in.
With files from Radio-Canada