In December 2020, Health Canada proposed a nicotine limit of 20 milligrams per milliliter (mg/ml) for all vaping products. This proposal came in response to a flawed paper published on BMJ, concluding that in Canada there was an increase in youth vaping and subsequent smoking. And while almost a year later, the inaccuracies in the study were acknowledged and the journal issued a correction, Canadian authorities did not change direction accordingly.
The new limit, came into effect on July 8th, and will extend to all retailers as of the 23rd of the month. The measure also includes a regulation that prohibits Canadian manufacturers from exporting products that exceed a nicotine concentration of 66 mg/ml.
Meanwhile Health Canada is giving retailers a two week grace period to remove non-compliant products from shelves and return them to the manufacturer, or take them to Island Waste Management for disposal.
The P.E.I. Lung Association hopes the ban on high potency vapes leads to fewer people becoming addicted to the nicotine. “This has huge significance.… I think that people won’t get as addicted to these products when they’re using them and current users of vapes will find it easier when they quit,” said Julia Hartley, co-ordinator with the P.E.I. Lung Association. “They won’t be getting as much nicotine and they’ll find it easier to get off these products and that’s what he hope,” she said.
How effective is a nicotine cap?
On the other hand, data from Europe has indicated that after a nicotine cap was set in place by the EU Tobacco Products Directive (TPD), some seasoned smokers who had switched to vaping, were struggling with the low dose. To this effect, many former smokers reverted back to smoking, or resorted to purchasing their preferred products on the black market.
Read Further: CBC
