Vaping concerns students, physicians

CALGARY GROUP WANTS GOV’TS TO TAKE ACTION

A group of students and physicians in Calgary want the federal and Alberta governments to crack down on teen vaping.

SAAVE — which stands for Stop Addicting Adolescents to Vaping and E-cigarettes — is calling for stricter regulations than on tobacco products.

The group says high school students have told them that everybody vapes and that it is easier to vape than to smoke because vaping tastes better than cigarettes.

Favourite flavours include peach, vanilla, mint and cinnamon.

The group says all flavours except tobacco should be banned.

It also says vaping devices and e-juice should only be sold from behind a pharmacy counter and only to adults.

Dr. Eddy Lang, head of the University of Calgary emergency department, says if action isn’t taken a new generation will become addicted to nicotine.

“We are fortunate to have seen a reduction in tobacco use across Canada over the last decade, but if vaping is a gateway to combustible cigarette use, then I fear that the increase in tobacco use by teens will erase all these gains,” he said Tuesday in a release.

“The future of our country’s health and healthcare system will suffer the cardiac and respiratory burden of life-limiting illness that we cannot and should not have to cope with.”

Last month, Health Canada announced it is ramping up efforts to warn young Canadians about the potential risks associated with vaping.

The efforts include a campaign to tackle problems linked to the rapidly evolving vaping market.

The campaign includes paid and social media ads urging parents to start discussing vaping health risks with their kids.

The next step is to be aimed at teens, including hands-on learning events in high schools.