Monitoring Regulation of E-cigarettes: Perspective from British Columbia in Canada

According to a report from Globalnews Canada, Adrian Dix, the Minister of Health for the province of British Columbia, is closely monitoring the regulatory developments relating to e-cigarettes in other countries. While British Columbia has the lowest smoking rate among all provinces in Canada, standing at 8%, the province does face a higher proportion of youth e-cigarette users compared to the national average.

Several countries have taken radical measures to prevent young people from smoking, such as New Zealand banning the purchase of tobacco for individuals born on or after January 1, 2009. The UK government has also proposed a similar bill this week, gradually raising the legal smoking age by one year annually until it applies to everyone. The UK government has stated that "this could potentially eradicate youth smoking almost completely before 2040.

During an interview at the British Columbia legislature, Dix expressed great interest in the actions taken by New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

According to statistics from Canada, British Columbia has the lowest smoking rate among residents aged 15 and above, standing at only 8%, compared to 15% in Newfoundland and Labrador. However, the proportion of e-cigarette users among teenagers in British Columbia is higher than the average level.

The province of British Columbia has taken measures to curb this issue by imposing restrictions on the sale of flavored e-cigarette liquid in stores. The new regulations will require health warnings on the labels of e-cigarette products and mandate that the nicotine content does not exceed 20 milligrams per milliliter. Additionally, retailers are prohibited from selling e-cigarette products that do not contain nicotine or contain a mixture of nicotine and cannabis. Furthermore, advertising and promotion of these products are banned in places visible to teenagers.

Rob Cunningham, Senior Policy Analyst at the Canadian Cancer Society, has stated that "over the past 15 years, we have not seen any measures taken by the province of British Columbia to reduce tobacco use." He is calling for a more comprehensive tobacco sales tax system in the future, similar to what New Zealand and the UK have implemented, to restrict the sale of tobacco to young people.