The head of Corporate and Regulatory Affairs at Imperial Tobacco Canada says they support the B.C. government’s plan to curb youth vaping.
However, Eric Gagnon says the proposed limit of 20 mg of nicotine per ml in a vape cartridge in the province is extreme, as he says the federal limit is 60 mg per ml.
He says if the government’s measures are too extreme, people will turn to the black market to get their vaping fix.
“The issue with vaping in the US, they’re up to more than 2,000 lung related illnesses, and close to 40 deaths,” he said, on NL Newsday. “But you know the FDA has come out and said that these cases are linked to people buying the products illegally and off the streets.”
“So that’s where we are challenging a little bit what BC is doing.”
Gagnon says the government should enforce the rules it already has on the books, instead of bringing in stricter rules.
“What you want to make sure is that when a smoker tries a vaping product, he will get what he needs in order to stay on vaping,” Gagnon noted. “If the nicotine level is too low, the smoker will try it, and then say, ‘you know what it’s not like a cigarette, and I’m going to go back to smoking.'”
Health Minister Adrian Dix calls the province’s rules ‘the most comprehensive plan in the country’. He says the 20 mg per ml limit is consistent with the United Kingdom and the European Union, where he says it’s helped curb the rates of vaping.
B.C.’s restrictions on vaping are expected to come into force on April 1, 2020 after stakeholder engagement.