Canadian Vaping Association Rebuts Cancer Society on Harm Reduction

On May 21, according to Canadian media reports, the Canadian Vaping Association recently rebutted comments made by Rob Cunningham, a spokesperson for the Canadian Cancer Society, during an interview regarding tobacco and e-cigarettes.

 

Rob Cunningham, spokesperson for the Canadian Cancer Society, recently participated in an interview on Rick Howe's radio show discussing tobacco and e-cigarettes. The Canadian Vaping Association (CVA) was pleased to find that many of the Cancer Society's statements align with CVA's principles, but they were disappointed that the Cancer Society still does not recognize e-cigarettes as a harm reduction tool.

 

Cunningham stated that he believes the rate of youth vaping in Canada is much higher than in the UK, which he directly attributes to the entry of e-cigarette brands owned by Big Tobacco and their aggressive advertising in the Canadian market. Rob explained that products like Juul and Vype have nicotine concentrations ranging from 57-59 mg per milliliter, making them both addictive and appealing to young people. Before these products entered the market, the EU had already limited nicotine concentrations to 20 mg per milliliter. The result of this regulation is that the emergence of these brands has had little impact on the youth vaping rate across the EU.

 

CVA has repeatedly expressed concerns about the high nicotine content of products sold by Big Tobacco e-cigarette brands and the prohibition of advertising indigenous brands. However, Mr. Cunningham's call for stricter advertising regulations in Canada is misguided. Canada has already banned advertising vapor products outside of age-restricted spaces. Therefore, further regulations in this regard are neither necessary nor wise. Instead, Canada needs to continuously strengthen existing regulations. The aggressive advertising campaigns of Big Tobacco exist because their products entered the market before these regulations were implemented.

 

The Canadian Cancer Society has repeatedly stated that they believe flavored vapor products should only be sold in age-restricted specialty e-cigarette stores, which CVA strongly agrees with. However, CVA has repeatedly indicated that research data from the CDC and UK public health departments show that flavoring is not the reason for youth uptake of e-cigarettes. CVA believes that not only flavored products but all nicotine vapor products should be sold in age-restricted environments where staff are capable of providing the necessary education.

 

CVA Executive Director Darryl Tempest stated that vapor products are adult products intended for former smokers. The Canadian Cancer Society's advocacy for limiting the sale of these products to age-restricted specialty stores is absolutely correct. However, they mistakenly believe that flavoring is the driving force behind youth uptake. Research from the American Cancer Society has shown that removing flavors does not impact youth smoking rates. This clearly indicates that if legislation is to effectively reduce youth smoking, issues of nicotine concentration and points of contact must be addressed.

 

Although CVA agrees with many of the Canadian Cancer Society's views on e-cigarette regulations, our respected health organization acknowledges that e-cigarettes are a less harmful alternative to smoking. Rob Cunningham has yet to clarify the benefits of smokers switching to e-cigarettes. For public health, all health organizations (including the Canadian Cancer Society) should adopt all available tools to reduce harm. Research shows that smoking is at least 95% more harmful than vaping, and flavoring is not the motivation for youth vaping.