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By Veronica Beltran

vaping regulations to protect youth

Province announces vaping regulations aimed at protecting youth

Nov 14, 2019 | 11:12 AM

VICTORIA–New vaping regulations are set to come into effect in 2020, aimed at protecting youth.

The province is planning on restricting vapour product access, flavours, nicotine content, packaging and advertising, and intends to increase taxes on vapour products in order to protect and deter youth from vaping.

“Some vaping manufacturers are using flavours and advertising to entice and normalize vaping for youth – introducing a new generation to very high levels of a very addictive drug,” said Adrian Dix, Minister of Health. “As a result, youth vaping rates are rising, putting them at risk for addiction and serious illness. That’s why we are bringing in the most comprehensive plan in the country, and supporting young people to end this dangerous trend.”

The new regulations will restrict the amount of nicotine in vapour pods and liquid to 20mg/ml and will also require manufacturers to use plain packaging for their products. Public advertising of vapour products will also be restricted in areas where youth spend time ie. bus shelters or community parks. The regulations are expected to come into effect in the spring of 2020.

The sale of vapour flavours, other than tobacco flavours will only be allowed in age-restricted shops. The province also plans on introducing legislation this month that would add a 20 percent tax to vaping products, up from 7 percent–the new tax wouldn’t go into effect until Jan.1st 2020. The legislation would make BC the first province to introduce a specific tax rate for vaping products.

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“We share the urgent concerns from health professionals and parents surrounding youth vaping in our province,” said Carole James, Minister of Finance. “Our government is committed to deterring young people from turning to vapour products out of convenience and cost. We know from taxing tobacco that teenagers respond the most to price increases and we are now introducing a similar strategy for vaping.”

The legislation will also add a two-cent increase on the tobacco tax rate by two cents. The tax applied would be 29.5 cents per cigarette and 39.5 cents per gram of loose tobacco. Nicotine gum, patches and similar smoking cessation products would continue to be exempt from PST.