The federal government hasn’t banned menthol-flavoured tobacco products, which have become popular with youth smokers, because there’s no consensus among the provinces, Health Minister Rona Ambrose told Global News.
“I did speak to my colleagues in the provinces and territories, because all of these regulations we have to do this together,” she said. “There isn’t a unanimous sense from the provinces.”
It’s been four years since Ottawa banned all other flavours of tobacco, and earlier this fall Ambrose acted to close a loophole that saw flavoured cigarillos still on the market.
Ontario and Alberta recently introduced legislation to ban flavoured tobacco — Ontario’s includes menthol, while Alberta’s doesn’t.
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Les Hagen, with Action on Smoking and Health, is critical of the menthol exemption.
“If the issue is waiting for the provinces to act, that’s just not going to happen and I can’t think of many issues where all the provinces come together,” he said.
Hagen said recent surveys show between a third and half of all youth smokers are using menthol-flavoured products.
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“It’s weird. We know menthol is the most harmful and popular flavour. It’s very odd that both the federal government and Alberta have chosen to exempt this very harmful product,” he said. “I don’t think you can underestimate the influence of the tobacco lobby.”
Ambrose said she’ll continue to discuss the issue with provinces, but believes a menthol ban isn’t the only way to curb youth smoking.
“I think the biggest deterrent for kids smoking is to talk about the health impacts, and the health impacts are severe,” she said. “At the end of the day, what I say is we just don’t want kids to smoke at all.”
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Hagen said regulations on menthol-flavoured tobacco would go a long way towards making that happen.
“It’s a huge problem and something the federal government must address,” he said.
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