While the world and public health systems have been gripped with managing COVID-19, a number of regulatory changes have nonetheless been put in place with respect to vaping products. This post provides an update on some noteworthy Canadian policy decisions in 2020. Dialing down the nicotine: Last Tuesday, Nova Scotia adopted regulations “to add restrictions respecting nicotine potency…
Over the past couple of weeks, BAT (owner of Nicoventures and Imperial Tobacco Canada) has launched new promotions in Canada for its vaping products. This campaign is part of a global re-branding initiative the company shared with investors in March. This campaign can be seen as a test run of the federal government’s plans for…
E-cigarette taxes: A global snapshot Earlier this month, we reported on taxes on cigarettes in Canada, and also on heat-not-burn tobacco sticks.* This post reviews Canadian tax measures on e-cigarettes (vaping products), and compares with those in other jurisdictions. Vaping taxes in Canada: Currently, the federal government does not impose taxes on e-cigarettes, other than the GST…
Last week viewers of the American College of Cardiology’s virtual annual scientific session were able to see the initial results of the first large Canadian randomized clinical trial of e-cigarettes as a cessation device. Thanks to the ACC’s sharing of this event and Youtube technology, a 6-minute synopsis of his presentation is available to all. In…
Today Statistics Canada released the first government survey since e-cigarettes were legalized — the one-time Canadian Tobacco and Nicotine Survey. This survey was conducted of Canadians over 15 years of age in November and December of 2019. It came after a long drought. Monitoring of e-cigarette use became a casualty of the restructuring of Health…
One of the key accusations against JUUL made in the lawsuits that were discussed here last week is how that manufacturer used nicotine salts to increase the amount of nicotine absorbed from its e-cigarettes. This blog and our recent fact sheet provide reasons to regulate the use of nicotine salts in e-cigarettes/vaping products. Nicotine salts are recognized as a…
For the past several weeks, Imperial Tobacco has been ramping up its “Facts not Fear” campaign. Their clear message — as shown in a display in a local Ottawa shopping mall — is that vaping products are not as harmful as health scientists are claiming. Well, we’ve been down this road before. In the 1950s…
Last week two more U.S. states filed lawsuits against JUUL, alleging that the company has mislead consumers and asking their courts to do what their legislatures cannot — force the company to suspend certain deceptive marketing activities. This week, Canadian governments will be facing the tobacco industry in insolvency court as a result of their…
In recent months vaping companies have been warning that regulations aimed at reducing vaping will “drive people to cigarettes.” The recent “facts not fear” campaign run by Imperial Tobacco Canada, for example, predicts that regulations to protect young people from pro-vaping advertising will be “forcing consumers to go back to cigarettes.” Even some public health authorities – like…
A key challenge for health regulators when facing emerging nicotine devices is the complexity and change in that market place. Unlike cigarettes, which researchers and regulators have generally treated as identical products across geography and time, next generation products like e-cigarettes vary greatly in their design, contents and marketing from place to another and from…