Media statement by the Canadian Vaping Association

HAMILTON, Ontario, Sept. 18, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The CVA is very concerned that youth are gaining access to nicotine e-liquid vape products. The CVA is calling on all Federal, Provincial and Territorial Governments to ban the sale of nicotine e-liquid vape products and all visible marketing outside of adult access environments immediately. They must be removed from all convenience stores, gas stations or any retail location that is not age-restricted. We also call on the Federal Government to restrict nicotine levels to 20 milligrams per millilitre or two per cent.

The CVA has also called on the Federal Government to add the following restrictions into regulation to provide further protections, with the specific intent of addressing youth uptake:

1. Display and promotion in retail environments should be restricted to age of majority retail stores

2. National and brand specific advertising should be banned

3. Mandating e-commerce and online sales must be delivered via an age verification platform, such as the one currently available through Canada Post

Gas stations are heavily utilized with product promotions on pumps and windows, as are convenience stores. Furthermore, these locations often have physical product displays and murals of ads on display right at the point of sale. Our concern here is that these locations are not age-restricted and, in many instances, are a common congregation point for youth. The false premise is that flavours are enticing youth to “experiment” with vaping products, whereas the aggressive promotion of these products in non-adult restricted environments has had a far greater impact.

The lifesaving vape products have been deemed at least 95 per cent safer than combustible tobacco by the Royal College of Physicians. They must be embraced and available to Canadian smokers as a solution to address Canada’s leading cause of preventable death – combustible tobacco.

About the Canadian Vaping Association

The Canadian Vaping Association (canadianvapingassociation.org) is a registered national, not-for-profit organization, established as the voice for the burgeoning Canadian vaping industry. Founded in 2014, the CVA represents over 200 retail and online vaping businesses in Canada. The association is the primary liaison with the federal and provincial governments on all legislative and regulatory issues related to the industry. The primary goal of CVA is to ensure that government regulation is reasonable and practical, through the strategy of professional proactive communication and education supplied bilingually to health officers, media, and elected officials.

For more information, please contact:

Darryl Tempest
Executive Director
647-274-1867
dtempest@thecva.org