TORONTO – There’s word Ontario’s Liberal government will introduce legislation to ban the sale of candy-flavoured tobacco products to people under age 18.
Government sources tell The Canadian Press the bill will target candy-flavoured tobacco products which are marketed to youth, including flavoured cigarillos and chewing tobacco.
Flavoured tobacco products are one of the few remaining ways tobacco companies can legally market to kids, and the government believes many youth start smoking with cigarillos that taste like chocolate or strawberry.
One source says the legislation is one of several initiatives to be announced today by Health Minister Deb Matthews to prevent young people from becoming addicted to tobacco.
Ontario passed a private member’s bill by New Democrat France Gelinas in 2010 that prohibited stores from selling candy- and fruit-flavoured cigarillos to youth, but it specified the banned products had a filter and a certain amount of tobacco.
Gelinas complained producers found a loophole even before her bill went into effect by removing the filters and adding even more tobacco to skirt the law, so she proposed a broader ban.
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