Why does British Columbia lag behind when it comes to taking cigarettes out of pharmacies?

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More than 30 years ago, Canadian health organizations began to campaign for pharmacies to stop selling cigarettes. One by one, 9 provinces and 3 territories amended their tobacco laws to end this practice. Only one province – British Columbia – has firmly declined to take this step. This post looks reviews provincial bans on pharmacy...

TAAT: Another challenge for tobacco regulators

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What looks like a cigarette, tastes like a cigarette and smells like a cigarette but is not regulated like a cigarette? Meet TAAT, a hemp-based cigarette look-alike. Made by a Canadian company, designed by Philip Morris International alumni, and now being test-marketed in the U.S.A., TAAT are nicotine-free ‘cigarettes’ that promise a realistic smoking experience....

Federal budget will trigger much-needed price increases for tobacco and vaping products

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(Ottawa – April 19, 2021) Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada welcomes the measures included in today’s federal budget to increase taxes on tobacco products and to implement a new tax on vaping products. “These are long overdue and important steps to help protect Canadian children,” said Cynthia Callard, Executive Director. “Tobacco products in Canada are...

Tobacco 21 – More evidence on the benefits of raising the minimum legal age

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Raising the minimum sale age for tobacco to 21 has emerged as a highly recommended measure for tobacco control systems. This blog reviews the history of Tobacco 21 measures and the research that has been conducted on the effectiveness of this measure at reducing tobacco or e-cigarette use by young people. (A downloadable version is...

Insolvency court forces Canada’s tobacco companies to reveal financial information.

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Next week Justice McEwan of Ontario’s Superior Court will be asked for the sixth time to extend the insolvency protection orders under which Canada’s 3 main tobacco companies are maintaining “business as usual” while trying to negotiate an end to the lawsuits filed against them. In most respects, there appear to be no new developments in...

Big Tobacco and New Cannabis (and why we should care)

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This week’s news that British American Tobacco (BAT) acquired a large share of Organigram, a Canadian cannabis company should have come as no surprise. Tobacco companies have recently signalled that they are very much getting into the cannabis business. In an industry noted for expanding through mergers and acquisitions, we can only expect more such announcements. Indeed,...

BAT’s report on “Vapour in Canada” validates new provincial and federal regulations

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Over the past six months, new restrictions on vaping product marketed have been implemented by the federal and provincial governments which share responsibility for public health. This post provides an update on some of these measures – and on the reasons they are needed. BAT reports that flavours and packaging are the key to its...

BAT targets Canadian vapers with higher nicotine and more flavours

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This post reports on our recent review of BAT’s vapour product offerings  in the 18 other countries.in which it operates a country-specific web-site. From an inventory of the different devices and liquids they sell, it is apparent that BAT sells higher nicotine concentrations in Canada than it does in most other countries and that BAT sells more...

A new year begins… and so do some tobacco-related measures

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The new year is a common date for governments to peg for implementing regulations or new rules. This year is no exception, with new tobacco control provisions kicking in this week. Other regular New Year’s changes will be price increases set by tobacco companies. This post reviews these events — with related and updated fact...

Post-consumer tobacco waste — more harmful than plastic straws and stir sticks.

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Earlier this month, Jonathan Wilkinson, the minister of Enviornment and Climate Change Canada announced Canada’s plans to achieve zero plastic waste within the next decade.  Included in this plan was a ban on 6 categories of single-use plastic items: plastic checkout bags, straws, stir sticks, six-pack rings, cutlery, and food ware made from hard-to-recycle plastics. While the...

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