Capital and Crisis: The Vape Market
As a Lower Mainland youth, it’s evident that the vogue of today is vape products. E-cigarettes have exploded in both popularity and controversy in the past few years, with American corporations such as Juul facing multiple investigations and lawsuits involving public health concerns regarding their products. As of July 2019, Juul had a 78% share of the Canadian vape market, with its products available at tens of thousands of convenience stores and vape shops nationwide. Furthermore, the World Health Organization has valued the smokeless tobacco and vaping industry at roughly $1 billion a year in Canada.
With the cultural and economic normalization of the cannabis industry, disputes over Canada’s choice to legalize recreational cannabis through the Cannabis Act (Bill C-45) have dialed down. The economic aftermath of this legislation has been billions generated in revenue for domestic businesses, and internationally, cannabis companies are expected to see sales grow exponentially through the next decade. As for safety concerns for younger audiences, the enactment promised to restrict youth access to marijuana, readjust and reimplement criminal penalties for those who break the law, and promote public awareness of the associated health effects.
Yet for the e-cigarette economy, which has taken upon much of the sinister reputation of marijuana and other “gateway drugs,” the economic successes of such a marketplace have been overlooked by the social consequences of smoking “alternatives.” The concern from school districts, families, and healthcare officials is more than reasonable. Amongst adolescents, signs of increasing rates of nicotine addiction, lung illnesses, mood swings, diminishing academic performances, and in rare cases, even death, are prevalent.
As Chair of Frank Hurt Secondary’s Student Council, I’ve made it our goal to tackle this predicament headon. My peers and I have embarked on numerous projects, from anti-drug abuse posters to digital social media advertisements informing our peers on the dangers of substance abuse. However, even as high schoolers, we too feel bewildered as to why such goods have stirred widespread usage on school grounds.
It’s unsure whether this is an issue best solved through mere federal institutions such as Health Canada, or if more aggressive government approaches, such as a proposed sin taxes on socially harmful goods, would be more resourceful. Regardless, both those in business and government sectors need to learn to grow the economy without endangering the livelihoods of our next generation of workers and consumers.
Trishant Gill is 17 years old and is a member of the Surrey Board of Trade Youth Entrepreneurship Team.