Canadian Vaping Association Talks About Ontario’s Ban on Convenience Store Sales of Flavored E-c

On February 8, news from Canada reported that the Canadian Vaping Association has expressed new views on the ban on the sale of e-cigarettes in convenience stores.

On February 7, 2020, an article in the Toronto Star indicated that e-cigarettes are a widespread issue. Stopping convenience stores from selling them will make them a scapegoat, leading readers to believe that the rise of youth vaping is not the fault of the convenience store association. The omission of statistical data and facts makes convenience stores appear as victims of meaningless legislation.

The Canadian Vaping Association (CVA) praised the legislation, noting that the EU will soon introduce a nicotine limit of 20mg/ml. This nicotine cap restricts the entry of tobacco-owned brands and prevents young people from using e-cigarettes. Despite the UK selling various flavored brands and currently having over 3.6 million adult e-cigarette users, the country has not seen a significant attraction among young people.

CVA stated that industry members have also been working tirelessly with Health Canada to develop new regulations that will limit youth access to e-cigarette products. Specifically, to protect young people and reduce their intake, e-cigarette store owners across the industry are calling for various other measures, including:

- A national ban on brand advertising

- Dual ID verification for online sales

- Restricting e-cigarette product sales to adult-only environments

- Reducing the maximum nicotine concentration to 20 mg/ml

CVA and its members fully support the Ontario government's decision to limit the sale of these adult products in environments without age restrictions, including convenience stores. The large tobacco companies that support convenience store sales have made generations addicted to combustible tobacco products. Now, these companies and sales channels expose young people to aggressive e-cigarette marketing and high-nicotine products. When large tobacco entered the e-cigarette market through its convenience store partners in 2018, there was a significant increase in youth usage, but now convenience stores are being made scapegoats, which is incorrect.