U of C health students want stronger restrictions on vaping

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Local university students and youth health advocates are calling on the Alberta government to consider stricter regulations to prevent children from vaping, but their pleas may have fallen on deaf ears.

Members of Stop Addicting Adolescents to Vaping and E-cigarettes (SAAVE) recently consulted Alberta’s 86 MLAs, asking them to intervene on three proposed legislative changes to restrict youth vaping and e-cigarettes.

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Formed in 2019, SAAVE is an advocacy group comprised of 38 undergraduate and high school students from the University of Calgary, with a mandate to address youth nicotine addiction.

The group wants the government to consider banning all vaping flavors other than tobacco, ban single-use vaping devices and require retailers to stock all vaping products behind the counter.

In a survey exercise, SAAVE members contacted Alberta’s 86 MLAs up to three times each from September 23 to October 7, using a standardized script to ask whether or not they supported the proposed regulations.

In a press conference on Monday, SAAVE members highlighted that the vast majority of MPs either ignored their survey or did not commit to their support.

“This was quite disappointing because we wanted to understand their views on our three measures to prevent youth nicotine addiction,” said member Lisa Wei, a second-year biomedical sciences student and SAAVE member.

Few deputies express their support

According to SAAVE, only two MPs — Lacombe-Ponoka representative Jennifer Johnson and Calgary-Lougheed representative Eric Bouchard, both of the UCP — expressed support, but only for the requirement to be in desk Four MPs told SAAVE that they were explicitly opposed to the suggested changes, while 40% did not respond and 51% did not state a position.

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Among those who did not take office was the Minister of Health, Adriana LaGrange. Instead, he directed the group to read the Tobacco Control, Smoking and Vaping Act and other government policies to interpret its position on the issue.

In a statement to Postmedia, LaGrange’s office argued the province has taken a balanced approach to regulating vaping and e-cigarettes, noting the government released a new tobacco and vaping reduction strategy in January past The strategy includes the creation of a provincial committee, which will include youth representatives.

“We acknowledge SAAVE’s statements about the harms of vaping products, along with its advocacy to restrict the flavors of these products, ban the sale of single-use vaporizers, and place vaping devices behind store counters. pharmacies,” said LaGrange press secretary Jessi Rampton. .

“We’ve heard from former smokers that the availability of flavored vape products helped them quit smoking. However, we’ve also heard that these flavors can attract young people to use vape products. As such, we chose a balanced approach which will protect young people from vaping products while supporting adults who want to use them to reduce or quit smoking.”

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Arguments for, against banning flavored vaping products

While overall tobacco use is down considerably from 2017, provincial statistics from earlier this year show one in three Albertans aged 15 to 19 now vape, double the rate seven years ago .

SAAVE members attribute this increase to the assortment of fruity flavors that can often entice young people to try vaping for the first time. “We know that every day more and more young people are becoming addicted to nicotine through vaping,” said Denniela Jean Belen, sophomore biomedical sciences student.

Banning flavored vaping products has some precedence in Canada, as other provinces including Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island have implemented such policies.

The federal government also pledged in 2021 to ban flavored vaping products nationwide, though it has yet to do so. At a news conference earlier this month, a coalition of Canada’s top tobacco control agencies condemned the continued delay and called on federal Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Ya’ara Saks to end the ban or that you resign so that someone else could move on.

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The Canadian Vaping Association, which represents the vaping industry, argues that banning flavored vape products would push more than a million adult users back to smoking cigarettes, which they see as a more harmful way to consume nicotine.

And banning a highly regulated in-demand product would only help fuel the illicit market, according to association president Sam Tam, who argued that flavor is the biggest component of why someone who smokes cigarettes would switch to vaping .

“It’s not because they enjoy the taste of an ashtray; it’s because they’re addicted to nicotine,” he said. “It’s important to understand that people in this position have an addiction, and if you give them a product that tastes much better, it’s an easier transition away from tobacco.”

Instead of banning flavored products, Tam argued that the most effective strategy to curb youth access to e-cigarettes is to enforce existing regulations, impose substantial fines and suspend licenses for companies that do not comply. requirements

“When it comes to youth protection, we all agree that we don’t want young people vaping,” he said.

— With Jackie Carmichael Archives

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