The upcoming review of the tobacco act and potential regulation changes

The UCP is launching a review of Alberta’s Tobacco Act with the aim of regulating vaping. The province said the current legislation doesn’t specifically address vaping or the use of hookah and water pipes in public and workplaces.MLA Jeremy Nixon will lead the review, with the ultimate goal of establishing “evidence-based” regulation of vaping products.“We want to see smoking rates come down,” Nixon said The government will be consulting experts as part of the review, along with gathering feedback from Albertans on what they think the new policies should look like. The review will begin by Nov. 1 and is expected to be complete by the end of the year. The hope is that new amendments to the Tobacco Act will be in place by spring 2020.

 The Canadian Vaping Association Released a media statement on September 20, 2019:

The CVA has been expressing its concerns to government since March 2019 surrounding the increase in youth uptake of nicotine e-liquid that resulted from the entrance of the vape product branches of big tobacco companies into non-age restricted retail locations, including gas stations and convenience stores. The data supports that youth uptake did not exist prior to the entrance into the marketplace of big tobacco vape brands, such as Juul and Vype, in mid-2018. Health agencies clearly described in their media reports on September 19, 2019 that youth uptake among 16 to 19 year olds climbed 74% from 2017 to 2018. This data undoubtedly demonstrates that flavours, which have been around for well over a decade, are not the contributing factor to youth uptake but that youth access to vape products through non-adult verified retail locations are the true driver for this issue. As a result, the CVA responded on September 19, 2019 with a call to action for all federal, provincial and territorial governments to ban the sale of nicotine e-liquid vape products and all visible vape product marketing outside of adult-only access environments immediately.
“Nicotine e-liquid vape products must be removed from all convenience stores, gas stations and any retail location that is not age-restricted, and the egregious advertising programs found throughout these locations must be stopped immediately in order to address the concerns expressed by both Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor and the eight health organizations in Ottawa today,” said Darryl Tempest, Executive Director of the CVA.
“If we are going to have a real conversation about relative harm, the minister and all health organizations should be calling for an outright ban on the sale of combustible tobacco, which kills over 45,000 Canadians each year. According to Public Health England and the Royal College of Physicians, vaping is at least 95 percent less harmful than combustible tobacco and the leading harm reduction tool for smokers. We need to change the narrative of the national conversation to focus on the unprecedented public health opportunity vaping provides Canadians seeking a much less harmful alternative to combustible tobacco” he added.
According to Tempest, “Flavours have been miscast once again as the predominant source of youth uptake. Over the history of the vaping industry, tens of thousands of flavours have been introduced to the marketplace, and there has been little to no impact on youth uptake rates over this time. It was only after the mass introduction of non-age restricted retail locations, and the aggressive marketing of the products within these environments, that there has been a marked impact on youth vaping rates.”

Also worth mentioning T-Daawg labs has decided to stop producing any liquids with a nicotine strength stronger than 20mg.

Saadiq Daya, CEO of Vango Vapes mentioned in a long Facebook post: "Get rid of any high nicotine liquids. The youth uptake has been fueled by kids “chasing the heady”. We had flavored liquids for years; that is not what they were after. They wanted small discrete devices that could give them a headrush at any time"

It's very important right now that we stand together as an industry and as consumers  to make sure the government doesn't move in with overly onerous regulations that could destroy the small business, mom and pop shops that have been the heart and soul of this industry from the beginning and allow big tobacco to completely take over. Take this info in any part and use it in conversations over social media to let people know that we care about public health. We dont want to see these products in the hands of youth but at the same time we need to serve smokers trying to quit.