Canadian consumers who vape say flavours were critical to them switching from smoking to vaping — which is a positive move for public health, Bruce Cran writes.
Health Canada proposes to ban all flavoured vaping products other than tobacco, mint and menthol.
The Consumers’ Association of Canada (CAC) has taken a position in favour of adult consumer choice on this issue, believing adults should be able to choose their preferred type of product, especially one that could help them reduce or quit smoking.
We know cigarettes cause illness and death to many smokers. However, vaping products have been shown to be 95 per cent less harmful than cigarettes by entities like Public Health England and the Royal College of Physicians. Therefore, logic ought to dictate that vaping products be given prominence.
The CAC does not condone youth vaping and believes there are alternatives to the proposed Health Canada restrictions that would allow adults to continue to access their preferred flavours while ensuring youth cannot. The most obvious is simply to enforce existing laws against youth buying vaping products. Another option in place in some provinces is to restrict a broader array of flavours to adult-only retail locations. We have made these recommendations, but like tens of thousands of other consumers, have been ignored.
In draft regulations to restrict flavoured vaping products published on June 18 in the Canada Gazette, Health Canada reports it received over 24,000 consumer submissions to an earlier consultation versus “288 unique responses from a variety of stakeholders, 100 template submissions from health professionals, health organizations and the general public.” The draft regulations then state that “excluding postcard responses, 66 per cent were supportive of further restrictions.”
None of the responses from consumers supported the proposed flavour restrictions. In fact, the Canadian consumers who vape say flavours were critical to them switching from smoking to vaping — which is a positive move for public health.
Health Canada’s response defies belief. First, it put in writing that the consumer submissions would not be counted in assessing support for its proposed restrictions, even though it has counted them in the past — but apparently only when they support its policy proposals.
Second, Health Canada admitted that its proposed flavour restrictions are likely to drive some vapers back to smoking and/or prevent some current smokers from quitting. Think about that. The department with a mandate to reduce the smoking rate advances a regulation it admits is likely to increase the smoking rate.
It is unacceptable that Health Canada put in writing that it did not count the submissions of over 24,000 consumers when originally assessing support. There is no value in calling a public consultation if the views of the public are going to be ignored.
More fundamentally, Health Canada ignored the submissions of the people most affected by its proposed regulation — vapers themselves — in favour of public health and ideologically-driven advocates. In calculating the purported 66 per cent support for its proposed restrictions, Health Canada included letter-writing campaigns from “health professionals,” but not vapers. This is an egregious and blatant attempt to distort the numbers to show support for the restrictions, since if the consumer responses are counted, the proposal is rejected by 95 per cent of respondents.
The public must have a voice in public health.
The CAC is calling on Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos to adopt a fresh approach to policy-making, wherein the experiences of the people most impacted by a regulation are considered. That is critical if Canada wants effective policy, because if 100 per cent of those people tell you a policy is co
Bruce Cran is the president of the Consumers’ Association of Canada.
Bruce Cran – The Hamilton Spectator – 2021-12-01.
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