New vapour product legislation is now in force in Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan’s Tobacco and Vapour Products Control Act took effect Feb. 1 “in order to better protect Saskatchewan youth of risks associated with vaping.”
A release from the provincial government states that it is similar to measures found throughout the rest of Canada. The act contains provisions that:
- Restrict the sale of vapour/e-cigarette devices and products to individuals 18 years of age and older;
- Prohibit the display of vapour/e-cigarette products in a retail business where young persons have access;
- Restrict the use of vapour/e-cigarette products in and around public buildings, including schools and school grounds, “in the same manner as our provincial tobacco legislation”;
- Prohibit the sale of vapour/e-cigarette products from specified facilities such as amusement parks, arcades and theatres “where youth frequent”;
- Restrict advertising “in the same manner” as tobacco products by prohibiting advertising signs and promotional signs “in areas where young persons can enter”;
- Provide the ability to restrict the sale of flavoured tobacco and vapour products by regulation; and
- Expand the authority of tobacco enforcement officers to include enforcement of vapour/e-cigarette product restrictions.
Minister of Health Jim Reiter says it will protect the province’s youth from “the harmful effects” of vapour products. “If you never smoked, then don’t vape.”
Jennifer May, vice-president of Community Engagement at the Lung Association of Saskatchewan, says that vapour products are “highly addictive, trendy and extremely popular” among teens and young adults. “The Lung Association and its Youth4Change groups congratulate the government on the implementation of The Tobacco and Vapour Products Control Act. This is a great day for lung health as there has been a dramatic rise in youth vaping over the past few years and this will help protect the health of Saskatchewan kids.”
Elsewhere in Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec have both banned vape products, and Alberta is reviewing vape products for the time being. As for vaping-related illnesses, both Newfoundland and Alberta have confirmed one case each.
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