Canadian Vaping Association cautions New Brunswick that flavour bans harm public health

Beamsville, ON, Nov. 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Canadian Vaping Association (CVA) is alarmed to learn Liberal opposition member, Jean-Claude D'Amours from Edmunston Madawaska, has just introduced a misguided private members bill titled "An Act to Amend the Tobacco and Electronic Cigarette Act" in New Brunswick. The CVA cautions the Government of New Brunswick that enacting a flavour ban will have no effect on youth vaping rates and will instead push adults back to smoking or to the black-market. The research shows that flavour bans are ineffective for both youth prevention and harm reduction.

To understand the negative impact flavour bans cause, we need look only to Nova Scotia. Following Nova Scotia’s flavour ban, the Atlantic Convenience Store Association said they experienced an unprecedented spike in cigarette sales, with poling from Abacus Data suggesting that nearly 30% of vapers are at risk of relapse. As the only purveyor of combustible tobacco, the convenience store association has stood up against their economic interests to tell Nova Scotia and the world that restrictive vaping regulation directly caused a rebound to historic smoking rates. This alone should cause New Brunswick to embrace vaping and reject the private members bill. Convenience stores, who are the source of direct tobacco sales data, have sounded the alarm that the flavour ban in Nova Scotia has driven ex-smokers back to combustible tobacco use. It is incumbent upon the Government of New Brunswick to follow the data and prevent its province from replicating the results suffered in Nova Scotia.

While the CVA has consistently communicated the science and research, misinformation continues to prevail in the face of overwhelming evidence that public health is best served through inclusive vaping regulation. We applaud the Atlantic Convenience Store Association for their conviction in exposing the negative implications of restrictive vaping policies. While public concern for youth has made it politically convenient to ignore the extensive evidence, proving vaping to be the most successful harm reduction product available globally, Nova Scotia has implemented policies that diminish the value of the lives of their adult smokers.

The many anti-vape campaigns that weaponize youth, coerce politicians into ignoring overwhelming research for fear of negative public perception. As anti-vape organizations have repeatedly misrepresented independent vape companies as predators with the goal of addicting youth, it is now career suicide for politicians and regulators to contradict this accepted narrative and support the science. As a result, regulators and anti-vape organizations are directly responsible for putting the lives of thousands of Atlantic Canadians at risk.

“New Brunswick officials must acknowledge that the Canadian Constitution Foundation concluded that banning flavours violates the right not to be deprived of life, liberty, and the security of the person. Elected officials have been entrusted to uphold the values on which our country was founded. We implore the Government of New Brunswick to choose the lives of Atlantic Canadians over politically motivated rhetoric,” said Darryl Tempest, Executive Director of the CVA.

CONTACT: Darryl Tempest
The Canadian Vaping Association 
6472741867
dtempest@thecva.org