In Manitoba, Canada, calls for regulation are growing stronger as the flavoured vape prohibition in Quebec goes into effect.
With the recent implementation of a ban on flavor-infused vaping goods in Quebec, some Manitoban lung experts argue that more needs to be done to control vaping both in that province and throughout Canada.
The president and CEO of the Manitoba Lung Association stated on Tuesday, “We’re hoping the government looks at this more carefully.”
It’s something that will have a significant impact on both the current and future health of our adult population.
On Tuesday, the sale of vaping goods containing flavours other than tobacco was outlawed throughout the province of Quebec.
According to Quebec’s health minister, the prohibition aims to reduce the number of youth vapers, who are frequently lured to the tastes.
A Statistics Canada poll from 2022 revealed that 30% of Canadians between the ages of 15 and 19 and over 50% of those between the ages of 20 and 24 had tried vaping.
The fact that vaping is quite common in Manitoba may be attributed to the abundance of stores selling vaporizers, the variety of flavours offered, and the province’s insufficient resources for anti-vaping initiatives, according to Johnston.
According to a spokeswoman on Tuesday, it is against the law in Manitoba to sell vape products to anyone under the age of eighteen. Vaping is also prohibited in enclosed public areas.
The government is worried about the detrimental effects of vaping on health, and Manitoba has worked to develop education programmes, tariffs, and smoking prohibitions to help battle the issue, according to a statement released by the province’s health minister on Tuesday.
In order to decide what more needs to be done to reduce the use of tobacco products and e-cigarettes, the Manitoba government will closely examine what other jurisdictions are doing.
Quebec is not the first territory or province in Canada to outlaw flavoured e-cigarettes. The sale of flavor-infused vape devices is banned in New Brunswick, P.E.I., Nova Scotia, Nunavut, and the Northwest Territories, according to the Health and Stroke Foundation of Canada.
In 2021, Health Canada suggested a ban on flavoured vaping goods, but the proposal was not implemented.
For vaping products made in or imported into Canada, the federal government, which is in charge of regulating vaping products, has set a maximum nicotine content of 20 milligrammes per millilitre.
Quebec’s ban on vaping is a “good first step,” according to an assistant professor at the University of Manitoba’s physiology and pathophysiology department who studies the effects of vaping on youth health. However, provinces need to take a more coordinated approach to vaping legislation.
He told CBC on Wednesday that there’s nothing really keeping people from hopping jurisdictions to get them if it’s not done in every province or throughout Canada in a more coordinated way.
It might be a little blinkered to just outlaw liquids in the hopes that it will deter children and teenagers from discovering and utilising them.
Vaping can have a terrible effect on a young person’s growth and wellbeing.
He listed them as lung damage, breathing difficulties, altered infection risk, and trouble exercising.
Nicotine is another common ingredient in vaping devices, and it has a number of negative health effects.
He said that different flavours do make vaping more alluring, but Manitoba should speak with scientists and users to determine whether a flavour ban would have any impact.
I believe we need to take a more comprehensive approach to deterring people from using them in the first place, especially young adults and children, rather than merely outlawing tastes.
The e-cigarette industry is plagued in part by its rapid evolution and development.
According to Johnston of the Lung Association, reducing the number of young vapers might be accomplished by expanding educational programming and raising the legal age of purchase for vaping devices to 21.
Vape vendors should be required to pay taxes, with the proceeds going towards funding preventative measures, educational initiatives, and regulations to make sure sellers are addressing the issues they are creating.
Approaching the problem from a wider angle is required.
While there are other actions that can be taken, a general, worldwide strategy is required.
He stated that he will shortly meet with the new ministers for the province.
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