Health Canada limiting flavours, reducing nicotine content for vape products in Mississauga, Brampton, and Canada

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Published June 21, 2021 at 4:41 pm

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In an effort to prevent young Canadians from taking up smoking, Health Canada has made the decision to limit flavoured vape products.

According to Health Canada, flavoured vape products are more appealing to younger Canadians, but they’re also more susceptible to the negative effects of nicotine—which can alter brain development, and cause challenges with memory and concentration.

As a result, Health Canada is proposing legislative changes that would limit the flavour options for vape products sold in Canada to just tobacco and mint/menthol.

Additionally, Health Canada will be imposing a limit on the amount of nicotine that can be present in vape products to just 20 mg/mL.

Manufacturers of vape products will be required to adhere to this limit by July 8, and retailers will be prohibited from selling products that exceed this limit after July 23.

“Vaping is putting a new generation of Canadians at risk of nicotine addiction and other harms from vaping,” Patty Hajdu, Minister of Health, said in a news release.

“We’re taking this action because we know that nicotine has particular impacts on young people’s brain development, memory and concentration. These new measures build on our efforts to stop young Canadians from vaping. The message is simple—don’t vape,” she continued.

However, Imperial Tobacco Canada believes these regulations miss the mark, and will reduce the appeal for less harmful alternatives to smoking, and push current vapers back to traditional cigarettes.

Moreover, Eric Gagnon, vice president of Corporate and Regulatory Affairs for Imperial Tobacco Canada, believes the focus should be on making sure young Canadians don’t have access to these products, rather than making them less appealing.

“Governments across Canada want to decrease smoking incidence and the data shows that vaping can help achieve that objective,” Gagnon said in a separate release.

“If smoking rates in Canada start to increase, I hope Health Canada will conduct an honest assessment of this regulatory decision and rectify their mistake,” he continued.

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