The Legault government is considering further limiting access to vaping products.
The Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, suggested on Thursday that it was unacceptable that so many young people are currently vaping.
He was reacting to a daily report The duty indicating that it is easy even for minors to obtain cartridges exceeding the legal dose of nicotine.
The official opposition’s critic for healthy lifestyles, Enrico Ciccone, denounced the ease with which teenagers obtain products that reach concentrations of 50 mg/ml of nicotine, two and a half times the legal limit of 20 mg/ml.
“A secondary 5 student said this this morning: “With 50 milligrams of nicotine, it gives a head rush for a minute, as if you were high.” I don’t know how the minister receives this, but me, as a father, it worries me enormously. »
“Unacceptable”
“What we have seen is unacceptable and our children are at risk,” Mr. Dubé first replied.
Distributors must follow the law, he continued, recalling that they expose themselves to fines.
Mr. Ciccone returned to the charge by recalling that the national director of public health had made seven recommendations to protect young people against the risks of vaping.
“This government, now in its fifth year, has still done nothing to reduce the consumption of this junk, and I repeat, it is junk. »
Mr. Dubé replied that if the current measures are not enough, he intends to contact the distributors to limit access.
“There are flavor issues. There are several aspects that can be put into this to limit access. But we will require distributors to obey the law. »
Remember that according to the most recent Quebec survey on tobacco, alcohol, drugs and gambling among high school studentsthe percentage of young people who vaped in the 30 days preceding the survey increased fivefold in six years, from 4% in 2013 to 21% in 2019.