Earlier this week, US regulators hit one of the industry's most powerful players and ordered Juul to withdraw Vaping products from the market.
The company sued the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decision on , and told federal courts to block a government order to stop selling e-cigarettes. I'm looking for it.
US ban attempts do not directly affect Canada, but some health advocates say they cast doubt on the country's slow pace of regulation.
Let's take a closer look at the FDA's decision and what's happening in Canada.
Why Juul was banned.
As part of the FDA's review process, businesses needed to demonstrate that e-cigarettes help public health. In fact, that means that adult smokers who use them may quit or reduce smoking, and teens are less likely to get hooked on them. In the decisionof
, the FDA said that some of the largest e-cigarette distributors like Juul were "disproportionate to the increase in teen vaping." "It may have played a role," he said. The agency said Juul's application did not have sufficient evidence to show that the sale of its product was "appropriate for public health protection."
On Friday, the e-cigarette maker requested the court to suspend what the FDA calls "abnormal and illegal behavior." . The company filed an urgent motion with the US Court of Appeals in Washington while preparing to appeal the FDA's decision.
The controversy is not over yet.
What about Canada?
Juul's vaping products and products sold by other companies will continue to be available in Canada.
Health Canada Proposed Ban Flavor Vaping ProductsLast JuneAt that time, flavor vaporizing products were "very attractive to young people. Yes, young people are particularly vulnerable to n. " Adverse effects of nicotine – Includes changes in brain development that can cause problems with memory and concentration.
However, after a series of consultations last year, the proposed ban has not yet come into effect.
Watch | P.E.I. Currently, Canada has the strictest e-cigarette and smoking laws. As of March 1, P.E.I. You must be 21 years old to buy e-cigarettes and tobacco products at. The highest age limit in the country.
Some states and territories have their own restrictions on flavored e-cigarette products because of their appeal to teens.
(Julyvoluntarily stopped selling many flavor cartridges in 2020 after being criticized for being designed to seduce young people.)
David Hammond, a public health professor at Waterloo University studying youth e-cigarettes, said the ban on July products in the United States would reduce market share and diversify available products. Given that, he said it would not necessarily have a significant impact on the industry as a whole.
"As you know, it's like a tube of toothpaste. If you push it at one point, you just push it elsewhere," he said.
What does Health Canada say?
"The Ministry of Health of Canada has no plans to remove vapor-breathing products from the Canadian market in compliance with the Tobacco and Steam-breathing Products Act and the Canadian Consumer Product Safety Act," the agency emailed. I told CBC News.
The government recently put new limits on this sector, such as e-cigarette advertising and limits on the amount of nicotine in products. is also reviewing the 2018 vaping product legislation.
Health Canada warns about the risks of e-cigarettes on its website. The effects of vaping remain unclear, "and the government continues to investigate" severe lung illnesses associated with vaping. "
Last week, Health Canada requested another vaping company to disclose information about "sales and ingredients used in vaping products". Announced a series of proposed regulations. The government "keeps up with the rapidly evolving vaping market."
How popular is vaping?
Vaporing is popular among young people, with 14% of Canadians between the ages of 15 and 19 in the last month of 2020 , 6 of the same month of 2017. Increased from%. According to Canadian tobacco and nicotine findings.
Vaporing is less popular with adults over the age of 25, with only 3% reporting vaping during the last month of 2020.
Toronto's Center for Addiction and Mental Health has set regulatory challenges to make these products available to adults as a tobacco replacement, while at the same time for young non-smokers. He said it was a balance between limiting attractiveness.
"There is no doubt that young people who would otherwise not be smokers are starting to use e-cigarettes and they are becoming addicted to e-cigarettes fairly quickly," Schwartz said. ..
"Our research also shows that some adults can use these cigarettes to quit smoking by ."
What is a holdup? Is it?
Like Schwartz, Hammond said that vaping products may be a useful tool to help keep smokers away from cigarettes. He said it doesn't make sense to put strict restrictions on vaping products if cigarettes that are considered more harmful are still available in horn stores.
"I don't think the answer lies solely in how they are regulated," he said. "I think it's in the industry and I think we're reconfiguring these products to be used by 50-year-olds to quit smoking, rather than being grabbed by 15-year-olds on their way to a party."
Hammond, a member of Health Canada's e-cigarette product advisory board, said the agency could act faster given its stakes.
"These are difficult questions and there is no doubt that the market is changing rapidly, but it is not an area where slow, planned regulation is appropriate," he says. I did.
Cynthia Callard, executive director of advocacy group Physicians for Smoke-Free Canada, said the situation is different in Canada, but the FDA's decision was "Government can ban access to the market and ban it. It's a reminder that it should be a product that can't be shown to benefit public health. "