Ottawa to clamp down on vaping
OTTAWA — The federal government says it plans to introduce legislation this fall to regulate vaping.
Health Canada offered few other details Tuesday beyond saying it would protect young people from nicotine and allow adult smokers to use vaping as a quit-smoking aid or as a potentially less harmful alternative to tobacco.
The government says an estimated 87,000 Canadians, including many young people, will become daily smokers this year — placing them and others at risk of developing a variety of diseases and illnesses.
In a statement, the department said it is renewing the federal tobacco-control strategy for one year, giving the government time to develop a new long-term plan. The strategy was introduced in 2001 and last renewed four years ago.
Health Minister Jane Philpott will host a national forum next year to discuss the future of tobacco control.
Health Canada said federal work continues on a proposed ban on menthol cigarettes, as well as a commitment to introduce plain and standardized packaging requirements on all tobacco products.
Several provinces and municipalities have already brought forward measures on vaping, but federal legislation is required, said Rob Cunningham, a senior policy adviser at the Canadian Cancer Society. “It’s clearly something that needs regulation,” he said. “We don’t want kids to be using these cigarettes.”
Revised tobacco legislation must address not only e-cigarettes, but topics such as new industry marketing tactics, water-pipe smoking and regulation of marijuana, he said.
“There’s a whole bunch of new issues that have suddenly made the tobacco issue more complicated, and that’s why the new strategy has to be done right.”