The tax increase is applicable to all vaping products and electronic cigarettes, as well as their refills, whether they contain nicotine or cannabis products. The Ministry of Finance says that British Columbia is the first Canadian province to introduce such a tax.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry, said that the tax is a welcome measure and is expected to have a positive impact on local teen vaping rates. “We know from a long history of working on tobacco control that price point is a really important thing,” he said. “It has been heavily marketed to young people and I think this is a really good step to try and curb that.”
Henry said that she believes that cigarette smoking is also on the rise among young people, and that this is directly linked to the increased vaping rates. However, countless studies have indicated the exact opposite.
No teen vaping, does not lead to teen smoking
Meanwhile, a study published in Nicotine & Tobacco Research last November, has confirmed what several tobacco harm reduction experts have been pointing out since the beginning of the teen vaping hysteria: teens who take up vaping will not move on to smoking cigarettes. Rather, had they not taken up vaping, they would have most likely taken up smoking instead.
To this effect, a previous paper published in Duke Health, had indicated that efforts by the FDA and other entities, to limit the availability of e-cigarettes and/or flavoured e-liquids, could drive some existing users back to smoking cigarettes.
Vaping may stop teens from taking up smoking
The online survey of 240 young U.S. adults aged between 18 and 29, asked the participants to predict their use of two products they already used, e-cigarettes and regular cigarettes, in response to hypothetical restrictions such as e-liquid flavour bans and nicotine limits.
About 47% of the respondents had said that in response to nicotine restrictions in e-cigarettes, they would increase their use of traditional cigarettes. About 22% said that if regulations limited the customizability of devices, such as features allowing users to adjust nicotine dose or vapor temperature, they would vape less and smoke more tobacco cigarettes.
Read Further: CBC
