File Photo (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Pete McIntyre / Vernon Matters

Vaping Regulations

New restrictions on vaping come into force in B.C.

Jul 20, 2020 | 2:26 PM

VICTORIA — British Columbia’s health minister says the province has brought in significant new regulations to combat a substantial growth in vaping among young people.

“Nicotine is highly addictive and what we’ve seen is an aggressive campaign to promote the use of vaping products among youth. And even though those products are not allowed to be sold to people under 19 in B.C., nonetheless we’ve seen exponential growth in their use, and the risks to young people associated with that are significant and obvious,” Adrian Dix told a media teleconference.

Dix said the regulations, which took effect today, restrict the content, flavour, packaging, advertising and sale of vapour products in B.C.

The new e-substances regulation restricts the amount of nicotine in vapour pods and liquid to 20 mg/ml, and requires retailers to sell only those vapour products that are plainly packaged and have labels with health warnings. New retailers planning to sell vape products will need to comply with the regulation immediately. Existing vapour-product retailers will have a short transition period until Sept. 15, 2020.

The regulation immediately prohibits all retailers from selling non-nicotine or nicotine-cannabis blended vapour products.

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Flavoured vaping products will be restricted to adult-only stores, and anyone under 19 years old won’t be able to enter those stores.

The changes ban advertising of vapour products in places where youth can access, hear or see advertisements, such as bus shelters or community parks. They also restrict the sale of flavoured vapour products, which are attractive to youth, to adult-only shops.

The provincial youth advisory council will launch in September 2020 and will monitor and evaluate the overall impact of the plan.

“Schools are the perfect place to talk with young people about the negative effects vaping can have on their health and development, so they have the knowledge they need to make decisions about the use of nicotine and tobacco,” Minister of Education Rob Fleming said. “That’s why we worked with students and health experts to find the best ways to reach British Columbia’s youth and their families for a campaign that will go a long way in promoting healthy choices for kids.”

Other non-regulatory action under the province’s vaping action plan, includes a youth-led anti-vaping social media campaign to de-normalize vaping. Youth throughout B.C. were engaged through regional youth advisory tables, to provide guidance for the “evaporate” campaign. Launched in February 2020, the campaign has so far garnered over 27 million digital impressions.

“Providing young people in B.C. information about the risks of vaping, while restricting the advertising and flavours used to make it attractive, is an important step in stemming the use of this addictive and dangerous product. This approach mirrors the effective measures we used to reduce youth smoking, and continuing to work with youth on this action plan can ensure we protect a new generation from nicotine,” said Dr. Bonnie Henry, provincial health officer.

The province is also providing support to those who want to quit vaping through the quit-smoking service, QuitNow. QuitNow has been updated to include new quit-vaping information resources for youth and provides coaching by phone or text.

Click here for a summary of vaping regulations.