The Legault government has decided: the sale of vaping products that have a flavor other than that of tobacco will be prohibited.
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The Minister of Health and Social Services, Christian Dubé, released Wednesday morning a draft regulation to better regulate the electronic smoking industry.
In a press scrum in parliament, Mr. Dubé indicated that this regulation will contain four measures, the most important of which is the elimination of flavors in vaping products. Quebec also intends to restrict the capacity of tanks and capsules, as well as the volume of refill containers for vaping liquids.
“For us, it was extremely important,” commented Minister Dubé, drawing a parallel with the ban on flavors in cigarettes.
“Remember the menthol issue a few years ago, there was menthol and there were little cherry cigars and then etc. And it was seen as the right thing to do, to remove that attraction with false flavors for people who maybe needed to quit smoking,” he said.
Then, the Minister responsible for Sports, Recreation and the Outdoors, Isabelle Charest, insisted on the importance of making vaping products less attractive, to prevent young people from developing a tobacco addiction that could affect them throughout their lives. of their life.
But isn’t there a risk that the ban on flavors will lead to a problem of smuggling these products, as the demand is very high at the moment? To this question, Minister Dubé replied that he is “aware” of the problem, but that the government “does not want to participate in promoting access” to tobacco products for the population.
“It is excessively profitable for cigarette lobbies to join with vaping, because it is a way of encouraging new smokers (…). We are very firm on this, we have a recommendation from public health and we are going with that, ”he added.
The regulations will come into force in 90 days, and consultations will take place on them over the next few weeks.
Remember that the government increased the tax on tobacco products last January.