Study Shows More Canadian Teenagers Are Using E-Cigarettes

On May 7, reports from Canadian media indicated that a new survey of Canadian teenagers shows that e-cigarettes are currently in vogue.

The study, published this week in JAMA Pediatrics, revealed that the percentage of Canadian youth who reported having tried e-cigarettes rose from 29.3% in 2017 to 40.6% in 2019.

Rob Cunningham, a senior policy analyst at the Canadian Cancer Society, told Adam Miller of CBC News that this is shocking, and federal and provincial governments need to take urgent action to reduce smoking among young people through a series of measures.

The study surveyed over 12,000 Canadians aged 16 to 19, divided into three groups, regarding their habits from 2017 to 2019.

It found that the number of respondents reporting e-cigarette use in the past month more than doubled from 8.4% in 2017 to 17.8% in 2019.

The percentage of those who reported using e-cigarettes in the past week rose from 5.2% in 2017 to 12.3% in 2019.

The number of respondents who reported using e-cigarettes more than 20 times in the past month jumped from 1.8% to 5.7%.
 
David Hammond, a public health professor at the University of Waterloo, led the study on Canadian youth and has also researched smoking rates in the US and UK.

He found similar trends among American youth but not among British youth.

Hammond told Miller that this is largely due to the EU setting a limit on the amount of nicotine allowed in e-cigarettes (20mg per milliliter), while Canada and the US do not have such restrictions.

According to Health Canada, the maximum nicotine content allowed in e-cigarettes in Canada is more than three times that of the EU, at 66mg per milliliter.

In December of last year, Health Canada announced it was preparing to impose stricter advertising restrictions and mandatory health warnings on e-cigarette products, but stated it was not yet ready to impose further restrictions on e-cigarette products known to appeal to young users, as health advocates had wished.

In January, the Canadian Medical Association stated that Health Canada's proposals were insufficient, claiming that the proposed regulations provided too much leeway for the e-cigarette industry in promotional activities.

The CMA pointed out that e-cigarette advertising has successfully attracted more young people to use e-cigarettes, even when the ads are not targeted at them.

Health Canada's proposals are a response to increasing pressure to crack down on the e-cigarette industry, which has been aggressively promoting its products in stores and other public places.

Similarly, e-cigarette companies' advertisements and promotions are widely used across many social media platforms.

When asked about the latest survey, Health Canada expressed concern over the rapid increase in e-cigarette use among young people and stated that the government has taken measures to address this issue, including investing in public education, strengthening enforcement of legislation, and other regulations.