Electronic cigarettes could come under stringent federal regulations if Parliament accepts recommendations in a report from the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health.
The report, Vaping: Towards a Regulatory Framework for E–cigarettes, contains 14 recommendations based on testimonies from more than 30 experts and stakeholders.
If implemented, these recommendations will apply restrictions to labelling and advertising similar to those for tobacco products. It will also prohibit the sale of e–cigarettes to minors and vaping in federal public spaces. In addition, it will require disclosure of the ingredients these products contain and set a maximum level for nicotine.
“We are very pleased,” said Dr. Robert Strang, chief public health officer of Nova Scotia, the first province to legislate e–cigarettes by amending its Tobacco Act.
Strang’s department and the Council of Chief Medical Officers of Health hope that government “moves fast enough. This is an urgent matter.”
Health Canada says it will respond in “due course,” but did not provide a time frame.
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