Nova Scotia health groups recommend legislative action on youth vaping

Nova Scotia health groups are recommending a set of policy changes aimed at cracking down on a “youth vaping epidemic” in the province.

Members of Smoke-Free Nova Scotia presented their suggestions to legislature’s health committee on Tuesday, after a recent Canadian study found youth e-cigarette use skyrocketed by 74 per cent between 2017 and 2018.

“It’s very, very alarming, it’s a serious, serious public health concern, and so we need governments to act quickly and act effectively,” Kelly Cull, advocacy lead for the Canadian Cancer Society in Nova Scotia, told Global News.

“What we’re seeing here in Canada is certainly an epidemic with respect to youth vaping.”

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The suite of suggestions includes raising the legal age for tobacco and e-cigarette use from 19 to 21, banning flavoured vaping juice, tightening advertising rules around vaping, and eliminating online sales. Cull said these measures would help reduce access and exposure to the habit, particularly in a high school market, where students obtain vaping products from friends of legal age.

READ MORE: ‘Fallen way behind’: Alberta is now the only province without vaping legislation

The standing committee on health said it would ensure these suggestions are heard by the province and its health department.

Last month, Premier Stephen McNeil said his government is looking at regulations that could include a ban on flavoured vaping products. He made the comment after Tim Houston’s PCs introduced legislation that would ban e-liquids and require education in schools about the risks of vaping.

That bill is still under provincial consideration, and McNeil has said a series of potential regulatory changes are possible, including a requirement for licences to sell vaping products, similar to those required to sell tobacco.

Robert MacDonald, president of the Lung Association of Nova Scotia, said the group of advocates is recommending comprehensive policy changes inspired by tactics successful in reducing tobacco use in Canada.

“What we’re trying to base it on is past experiences, what we learned from tobacco control,” he said in an interview. “A lot of the strategies that were used at that time were very effective, and I think they can be applied to vaping as well.”

2:01 N.S. health officials concerned about vaping, e-cigarettes

According to a recent survey by Smoke-Free Nova Scotia, 48.3 per cent of youth and young adults who vape believe they would quit the habit if flavoured products were no longer sold on the shelves.

It also found that nearly 50 per cent of Nova Scotia students in grades 10 to 12 report having used an e-cigarette at least once, and that 20 per cent of Nova Scotians aged 16 to 24 who reported ever using tobacco, did so after vaping.

Dr. Mohammed Al-Hamdani, president of Smoke-Free Nova Scotia, said the evidence is clear that vaping is a pathway to smoking for young people, rather than a tool to help them quit.

READ MORE: U.S. to raise legal vaping age to 21 as investigation into illness has ‘breakthrough’

“Vaping rates have increased amongst youth who are 16 to 19 years old between 2017 to 2018 by 74 per cent,” he explained.

“There was a concurrent increase in tobacco use rates amongst the same group by 45 per cent, a trend we haven’t seen before, which suggests vaping is cross-normalizing tobacco, and that’s an issue because it’s reversing decades of progress.”

The health groups are also calling for harsher licensing requirements to sell vaping products, similar to tobacco shops and education campaigns that focuses on vaping as a potential transition into cigarette-smoking.

With files from The Canadian Press