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Poll finds e-cigarettes as route to smoking for young Canadians

Poll finds e-cigarettes as route to smoking for young Canadians

2022-07-27

According to new data released by Statistics Canada, two-thirds of Canadian teens aged 12 to 17 have used e-cigarettes or e-cigarettes before smoking cigarettes.


In contrast, one-third of 18- to 24-year-olds reported vaping prior to smoking.


"It's been our biggest concern here at Heart and Stroke about vaping, and it was something we were very worried about years ago, that it would be a gateway for young people to use cigarettes. In fact, that's what we're seeing." Heart and Stroke Fund said Manuel Arango, director of policy and advocacy at the club.


"Now, you get dual use, you get a double whammy of very harmful e-cigarettes. Then there is very harmful smoking, which is triggered by e-cigarettes."


The StatsCan study points out that e-cigarettes may be less harmful than inhaling tobacco smoke. The Johns Hopkins Hospital also repeated the statement in a blog post on whether e-cigarettes could help smokers quit.


But Arango stressed that vaping is harmful, especially for young people.


A 2021 study by a Swedish team led by Gustaf Lyytinen, a clinician at Helsingborg Hospital and researcher at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, found that nicotine-containing e-cigarettes may cause heart attacks, strokes, increased blood pressure Risk of coagulation and injury to small arteries.


Although the study was small, it suggests that nicotine-containing e-cigarettes have similar health effects to the body as conventional cigarettes.


In the past, some studies have shown that e-cigarettes can help smokers quit smoking. But many others have the exact opposite view.


"The jury is still out on whether these products are useful for quitting smoking. It just doesn't exist. Instead, what's happening is you get all these young people addicted to nicotine and end up smoking. So it's kind of like a public health disaster." Arango Say.


A 2021 Heart and Stroke Foundation study found that between 2017 and 2018, Canadians between the ages of 16 and 19 saw a 74 per cent increase in e-cigarette use.


The 2022 federal budget includes a tax on vaping products, effective October 1, 2022. The first 10ml of vaping liquid is taxed at $1 per 2ml of vaping products. In addition, after that, the tax will increase by $1 per 10ml of vaping liquid.


The vaping tax is a preventive federal regulation that Arango said could reduce consumption of vaping products by young people.


Some provinces have implemented provincial taxes, but unification is important, he said.


"We need all provinces in Canada to match what the federal government is doing and then keep increasing taxes because taxes do help reduce smoking and they can play a role in helping reduce vaping use among young people, especially since these are price sensitive ," said Arango.


Another essential measure, he said, is to limit flavours.


Nine in 10 young people said that flavour played an important role in why they started vaping and why they continued to vape. Flavors popular with young people include berry, candy, mango and mint/menthol.


In 2021, the federal government proposes to ban e-cigarette flavors to prevent the use of e-cigarette products from causing youth and non-tobacco product users to use tobacco products, the timeline of the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act reads.


But Arango points out that Health Canada does not include mint/menthol in the flavor ban.


"We know that peppermint/menthol is the second most appealing flavor. We urge them to add peppermint/menthol because that's something young people love too."


Health Canada is also seeking to implement regulatory measures that would require manufacturers to report product sales and ingredients to the department.


Disclosure is good for research, but not necessarily for the average person, Arango said.


“Disclosure of ingredients is helpful for researchers and governments because they can track and see substances that can cause harm in addition to nicotine, which is addictive to young people. But sometimes people wonder if the list of ingredients is very small, whether young people are Will read. What is preferable is a bigger warning," he said.


Similar to the cigarette warnings that were recently proposed and expected to be implemented by the end of 2023, Arango said: A prominent warning, such as a cigarette that covers 75% of a pack, very directly addresses the dangers of e-cigarettes, which would be more useful.


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