Tobacco harm reduction advocates Clive Bates and David Sweanor say the health body ’ s ongoing review of its tobacco and vaping legislation is deeply flawed .
Writing on his website The Counterfactual , Bates said the review missed an opportunity for a ‘ deeper rethink ’ of the role that harm reduction could play in tobacco and nicotine policy .
He said : “ There seems to be little interest in the consequences for adults or those adolescents for whom vaping may be a harm reduction alternative to smoking .
“ There is no grasp of interactions between adult and teenage vaping or the role that e-cigarettes play as economic substitutes for cigarettes .”
Bates and Canadian public health advocate David Sweanor have written joint responses to the health body ’ s discussion paper on the review .
They said : “ Vaping policy cannot be isolated from smoking policy and youth welfare cannot and should not be isolated from the effects of policies on adults .
“ Measures that are ‘ tough ’ on vaping may have the effect , if not the intention , of increasing smoking and creating a net increase in harm .”
They said that vaping should not be opposed simply because ‘ some young people may use it ’ and added : “ Health Canada is acting as an enemy of innovation .
“ Unless it believes that nicotine use will somehow disappear , the availability of technologies for using nicotine with relatively low risk
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“ is an inherently beneficial development and a significant advance .
Measures taken to prevent trivial risks to young people may create lethal consequences for millions of adults .
“ Health Canada and the complex of influential Canadian health organisations that oppose vaping and tobacco harm reduction may be doing more harm than good in tobacco policy .
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