Canada used the recent World No Tobacco Day to launch a new
multi-pronged initiative to drastically reduce the smoking death toll
which claims the lives of 45,000 Canadians each year.
With one smoker dying every 12 minutes, the government is investing
$330 million over the next five years to:
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help Canadians who smoke to quit or reduce the harms of their
addiction to nicotine and
protect the health of young people and non-smokers from the
dangers of tobacco use.
Health Canada said: “Canada’s Tobacco Strategy will take focused
action to help Canadians quit smoking. It will also take a pragmatic
and compassionate approach to supporting Canadians who already
use tobacco, to reduce the negative consequences of nicotine
addiction. All Canadians will benefit from Canada’s Tobacco Strategy.
We will see fewer Canadians starting to smoke, more Canadians
quitting and a new generation of healthier Canadians with a greater
awareness of how important it is to never pick up that first cigarette.”
For the first time, the official Health Canada website formally
recognises vaping as a legitimate and effective tool to help smokers
quit tobacco.
It says: “The Tobacco and Vaping Products Act (TVPA) became
law on May 23, 2018. Adults can now legally get vaping products
with nicotine as a less harmful option than smoking. This is part
of our broad new vision for dealing with tobacco use. Vaping is
less harmful than smoking. Many of the toxic and cancer-causing
chemicals in tobacco and the tobacco smoke form when tobacco is
burned. Vaping products do not contain tobacco and do not involve
burning or produce smoke. Switching from tobacco cigarettes to
vaping products will reduce a person's exposure to many toxic and
cancer-causing chemicals.
As a step towards quitting cigarettes, many smokers may go through a
transition period when they use both cigarettes and vaping products.
Studies have shown short-term general health improvements in those
who have completely switched from smoking cigarettes to vaping
products.”
It goes on to address the use of vaping as a quit smoking aid,
gives advice on the health risks of vaping and links to surveys on
vaping in Canada. It lists the laws which apply to vaping products and
summarizes their main points.
Health Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research
have also established an external Scientific Advisory Board on
Vaping Products, which will review the science on vaping products
and provide evidence and advice on a regular basis.
It summarizes the new Tobacco and Vaping Products Act (TVPA)
as follows:
The TVPA replaces the Tobacco Act, which governed how tobacco
products were:
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sold
labelled
produced
promoted
While continuing to govern tobacco products, the new TVPA
creates a legal framework for governing vaping products. In doing
so, it balances multiple goals, including:
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protecting youth from nicotine addiction and incentive to use
tobacco and vaping products and
allowing adults (mainly adults who smoke) to access vaping
products as a less harmful option than smoking.
Key elements of the TVPA related to vaping include:
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not allowing vaping products to be sold or given to anyone
under 18 years of age
• giving us the power to develop rules relating to such things as:
-industry reporting
-manufacturing standards
-product and packaging labelling (for example, health
warning messages)
• setting promotion restrictions for vaping products, including
promoting flavours that appeal to youth and promotions that
could mislead consumers about the health effects of these
products
• banning the use of certain ingredients and not allowing the
sale of vaping products that have an appearance or functions
that may appeal to youth.
Canada’s new legislative landscape represents the largest overhaul
of existing tobacco laws for a generation and the full impact this
will have on the vaping industry remains to be seen.
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