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Health Canada Cracks Down Even More On 'Fun' Vaping Products

Alarming stats out of the U.S. have the Canadian agency taking proactive measures.
The Tobacco and Vaping Products Act (TVPA), which came into effect earlier this year, will be expanded on Nov. 19.
Bloomberg via Getty Images
The Tobacco and Vaping Products Act (TVPA), which came into effect earlier this year, will be expanded on Nov. 19.

In an effort to keep the number of Canadian underage e-cigarette smokers to a minimum, the federal government is introducing additional vaping regulations next week.

The Tobacco and Vaping Products Act (TVPA), which came into effect earlier this year, will be expanded on Nov. 19.

The new legislation bans the sale or promotion of vaping products that have interesting shapes or make sounds, the promotion of candy and dessert flavours, and product promotion by testimonial or endorsement.

Health Canada will further limit the promotion of dessert and candy flavoured vape liquid.
Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Health Canada will further limit the promotion of dessert and candy flavoured vape liquid.

According to the 2017 Canadian Tobacco, Alcohol and Drugs Survey, 23 per cent of youth aged 15 to 19 had tried vaping, with six per cent having used an e-cigarette in the past 30 days.

Troubling stats out of the U.S. this week show that vaping has increased 80 per cent among high-schoolers and 50 per cent among middle-schoolers in the last year, prompting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to propose new measures against flavoured nicotine products.

Watch more about the U.S. teen vaping epidemic. Story continues below:

With that news, vaping giant Juul Labs Inc. announced they would stop offering some flavours — like cucumber and mango — for sale in U.S. stores, in an attempt to deter underage smokers, and will only offer those flavours for purchase online.

However, they have no plans for a similar suspension in Canada, CBC News reported.

Health Canada said they have not seen a similar spike among underage vaping, but are taking precautions, anyway, by expanding the regulations of the TVPA.

"(Vaping) is a rapidly evolving market with new products regularly being introduced into Canada, and so Health Canada is watching carefully," they said in a press release.

A large-scale U.S. study, released earlier this year, found that daily e-cigarette use can nearly double the risk of a heart attack compared to those who have never used e-cigs, with the risk even higher for those who also continue to smoke conventional tobacco cigarettes.

In June, Health Canada put a call out looking for young social media stars to help spread the word about the dangers of vaping.

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