B.C. health minister ‘interested’ in cigarette sale restrictions abroad

British Columbia’s health minister says he’s watching with interest as some other countries move to further restrict the sale of cigarettes to young people.

New Zealand recently passed unprecedented legislation banning cigarette sales to anyone born on or after Jan. 1 2009. This week, the United Kingdom also proposed a similar bill, effectively raising the smoking age by one year, each year, until it applies to the entire population.

According to the U.K. government, “This has the potential to phase out smoking in young people almost completely as early as 2040.”

“I’m very interested in what they’re doing in New Zealand and in the United Kingdom,” Adrian Dix told Global News at the B.C. legislature on Thursday.

“There’s more to be done and I’m open to all ideas of how to reduce it.”

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According to Statistics Canada, B.C. has the lowest smoking uptake of any province — eight per cent for residents 15 and older, compared with Newfoundland and Labrador’s 15 per cent.

It does, however, have an above-average rate of youth vapers, Dix said.

To crack down on those numbers, the province has restricted the sale of all flavoured vaping products to adult-only stores, required health warnings on labels, and limited the nicotine content of pods or liquids to less than 20 mg/mL. Retailers are also banned from selling non-nicotine or nicotine-cannabis blended vapour products, while advertising of those products is prohibited in places that can be seen or accessed by youth.

“In general, we have not seen any measures in B.C. to reduce tobacco use in 15 years. That is way too long,” said Rob Cunningham, a senior policy analyst with the Canadian Cancer Society.

“Smoking remains a leading preventable cause of disease and death in both British Columbia and Canada. The overwhelming majority of new smokers are underage youth and if we can prevent youth from starting, we can have a tremendous impact on the tobacco epidemic long-term.”

B.C. is the only province in Canada to allow cigarette sales at pharmacies and it has no provincial ban on smoking on outdoor patios, though municipalities like Victoria and Metro Vancouver have bylaws against it.

Cunningham suggested B.C. should follow in the footsteps of New Zealand and the U.K. and tighten cigarette sales to young people. He also called for a more comprehensive taxation program for cigarette sales.

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Dix made no firm commitments Thursday, but instead, repeatedly referred to B.C.’s low smoking rates.

“The most important thing is how many people smoke,” the minister said. “We have the lowest rates of smoking of any jurisdiction in Canada. That’s because of the steps we’ve taken, but also because of the views of British Columbians, of youth who have spoken to youth on this question.”

He cited successful campaigns that began in the 1990s, featuring young people discouraging other young people from lighting up.

Users must be 19 years old to buy cigarettes in B.C., — a contrast to Prince Edward Island’s 21, the highest age in Canada.