Quebec’s Strict Vaping Regulation Does Nothing to Promote A Less Harmful Alternative To Tobacco
If you thought Ontario is a prude province compared to Quebec, think again.
When it comes to vaping products, it’s the other way around.
The openness we are witnessing in Ontario right now is quite daring, while the excess of prudence towards vaping products we see in Quebec has a strong scent of old-style catechism.
Indeed, Ontario’s new strongman, Doug Ford, has just suspended the enforcement of the province’s recently adopted vaping regulation, which was to come into force no later than July 1st.
Why? To take the necessary time to understand how vaping can contribute to health issues on a scientific and factual basis.
A surprisingly wise decision that should inspire politicians here in Quebec as the next election campaign is about to begin.
At full steam in Ontario
In the neighboring province, many voices — including several well-known physicians and scientists (see here and here) — denounced vaping’s ostracization and highlighted the opportunity it represents as a less harmful alternative to tobacco, being a proven tool to help quit smoking.
“In Ontario, the government is in the process of enacting hypocritical regulations that will make it harder for cigarette smokers to quit.” — Dr. Akbar Khan, Founder and medical Director of Medicor Cancer Centres, an integrated cancer treatment facility in Toronto, in an open letter published last May, one month before Doug Ford’s victory.
Thus, while the neighboring province was about to imitate Quebec’s prudish approach of regulating vaping like tobacco — no in-store display, no promotion, restricted in public places and others — the new Ontario government believes that as far as vaping regulation, they went too far, too fast and just put an end to this madness.
In a recent visit to Doug Ford’s province, DepQuebec has been able to appreciate the striking contrast that now distinguishes Ontario and Quebec retail practices when it comes to vaping products.
Free to offer an alternative
Contrary to Quebec where such practice would rapidly degenerated into a $4,000 fine, a convenience store in Ontario can currently display vaping products openly. These can be showcased through colorful displays, promoted through indoor and outdoor signage and even through promotional handouts without any problem.
Vape Shops are benefiting too
In addition, Ontario’s business environment is currently more amicable for specialized boutiques called “vape shops”.
Quebec: a province afraid of its own shadow
Now that both levels of government have adopted (quite belatedly) a regulatory framework for vaping (Quebec in 2015, Ottawa in 2018), we can now truly appreciate their policies’ pathetic results.
The situation currently prevailing in Quebec is frankly distressing because having been ostracized as such, vaping is hardly visible at all, nor promoted as a less harmful alternative to tobacco.
In addition, the display ban for vaping products is worse than tobacco since, at least, everyone knows that a convenience store sells tobacco.
The same can not be said for vaping. The situation is indeed very confusing.
Before Quebec revised its tobacco legislation in 2015, convenience stores could showcase vaping products in-store but did not have the right to sell liquids with nicotine, which are the most requested and also, the most interesting for a tobacco smoker.
Those that held such nicotine-free products were generally disappointed with the low volume of sales, since without nicotine, there is barely a market.
Then, now that they can sell liquids with nicotine, they no longer have the right to showcase them!
So there is absolutely nothing that can help retailers to further develop this market without any possibility of promotion or visibility of the product and without any sales history.
Then, what to do with our million smokers?
In the latest available survey, Quebec had about 1.2 million tobacco smokers. That’s a lot of people.
The Quebec government want to reduce this group by half by 2025… very well. So how should they quit these poor lads?
Is not vaping a quite interesting option to gradually decrease their tobacco intake?
Could retailers and the vaping industry not play a constructive role by promoting this alternative while making some revenues that would offset the decline of the tobacco market?
And how about following countries like the United Kingdom, Sweden, Germany, the Czech Republic and others (see here) that are banking on vaping benefits to reduce tobacco use?
But here, in Quebec?
Come on, we are way too stuck up over here.
A lot more than Ontario, that’s for sure.
The self-righteous non-smokers can’t even tolerate an alternative so thousands have a better chance at quitting tobacco. All their whining is hypocritical and any government that bows to it is the same.
Tobacco proven as a killer is still legal and sold everywhere, yet vaping which isn’t, must be sublimated in Quebec, thus the work of immoral politicians.