For many decades, health regulators have focused on cigarette smoking as their indicator of tobacco and nicotine use. Around the world, statistical agencies ask variations of the questions “do you smoke cigarettes?” “when did you start smoking cigarettes?” “how many cigarettes do you smoke?” and use the answers to assess the success or failure of their…
Ottawa, Montreal, Edmonton, September 26, 2023 – A new Leger poll finds that there is strong public support (70%) for provinces to use their lawsuits against tobacco companies to mandate a phase out of the commercial sale of cigarettes in Canada. The survey was conducted from August 30 to September 9 among 2,709 Canadians. The…
PRESS RELEASE HEALTH GROUPS URGE PROVINCES TO PRIORITIZE TOBACCO VICTIMS’ CLAIMS AND CALL ON THEM TO BE MORE TRANSPARENT ABOUT THEIR PLANS FOR THE FUTURE OF THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY. Ottawa, Montreal, Edmonton, September 20, 2023 – Next week on September 27, 2023, Canadian tobacco companies will ask Ontario’s Chief Justice for another six-month reprieve from lawsuits…
On Tuesday this week, Health Canada made public its decision to issue a natural health food license to a subsidiary of British American Tobacco. As a result, British American Tobacco has become the first manufacturer to be authorized to market nicotine pouches in Canada. This federal license, issued on July 18, 2023, allows BAT/Nicoventures authority to…
This post provides an update on disposable electronic nicotine devices in Canada, identifies some important information gaps in Canada and notes key developments with respect to these single-use plastic products in other countries. Canada’s largest tobacco companies are intensifying their sales of disposable e-cigs. Last month, the Canadian subsidiary of British American Tobacco (Imperial…
Ottawa, Montreal, Edmonton, May 29, 2023 – On the occasion of World No Tobacco Day 2023, tobacco control organizations are calling on governments to use the historic opportunity of tobacco manufacturers’ facing bankruptcy and concentrate their efforts at winding up commercial tobacco companies in Canada. They urge governments to recognize that a monetary settlement that…
This month Health Canada released the results of the most recent Canadian Student, Alcohol and Tobacco Survey, with data collected in selected schools across Canada (except New Brunswick) during the 2021-2022 school year. This is the most recent version of the school-based smoking and drug survey which has been conducted periodically since 1994. In recent…
One of the few agreements about e-cigarettes is that there is still no consensus about the role they play in helping smokers quit. This post reports on the conflicting (and missing) evidence on the effects of using e-cigarettes for smoking cessation. A subsequent post will look at the conflicting (and missing) approaches to promoting e-cigarettes…
It’s time to admit it is dead. In June 2021 Health Canada stated its intention to reduce youth vaping by removing flavourings from vaping liquids, and published draft regulations to that effect. Predictably, the release of the draft regulations was followed with noisy and prolonged protests and intensive lobbying by those in the business of selling these…
National Non-Smoking Week is 46 years old this month. This is an occasion to reflect on how much has – and has not – changed over the past half century. This post looks at parallels in government tobbacco policy in 1977 and 2023, and what lessons we might take from this history. For many Canadians…