In Canada, it's a real battle lasting several weeks to defend the vaping that has just started! In a three-week trial that begins Monday, the Quebec and Canadian vaping associations will indeed try to invalidate several articles of Quebec law concerning the fight against smoking.
CHALLENGE THE LAW TO BE ABLE TO PROMOTE THE E-CIGARETTE!
Since the adoption of this law in 2015, all products related to the electronic cigarette are considered as tobacco products. The merchants had to frost their windows, stop tasting the products in the shop and put an end to the promotion and sale on the Internet. The Association québécoise des vapoteries (AQV) says that these provisions have hurt many businesses.
« Several of our members, since the passage of the law, have gone bankrupt, because it has really reduced the rate of people who come to the stores. »Deplores Alexandre Painchaud, vice-president of AQV and owner of E-Vap stores.
Like his colleagues, Alexandre Painchaud would like to promote his products as a good way to stop smoking or reduce the amount of inhaled toxic substances. " The vaping product that was considered a cure for tobacco, [the provincial government] put the cure with the poison ", Denounces the entrepreneur.
The associations argue that Health Canada now recognizes that smokers can reduce their exposure to harmful chemicals by replacing [the] cigarettes with a vaping product ". The federal government passed its own law on tobacco and vaping products last May. Overall, it is more permissive than Quebec law, especially in terms of promotion. " We had a thriving Internet industry, we are one of the only provinces where we do not have the right to sell our products on the Internet. »Declares Alexandre Painchaud.
In the lawsuit filed against the Quebec government, the AQV argues that the Quebec law " does not support the legitimate objective of reducing [...] smoking, but it is damaging by the general prohibition it imposes on [...] public health ».
DEFENSE PROMOTES FRAGILITY OF YOUTH IN VAPE!
On the defense side, government prosecutors argue that the law was passed to prevent young people or non-smokers from using e-cigarettes when they had never smoked
before. In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently labeled rising smoking habits among young people as genuine " epidemic ».
Although the tendency of young people to vape in Canada is less than in the United States, the Quebec government says it has adopted the law on the basis of the precautionary principle. Prosecutors in the case also question the motives of vaping associations and their arguments related to public health.
« The Quebec Association of Vape Shops does not represent the rights of smokers, but rather the rights of traders ", Argues the documents filed in the courthouse of Quebec. The office of the new Minister of Health, Danielle McCann, did not wish to comment on the file, given the judicial process that is beginning.
As the trial approaches, the Quebec Coalition for Tobacco Control hopes that the Quebec law will withstand the test of the courts. " It has struck a good balance between allowing access to these products while constraining and framing the promotion. ", slice Flory Doucas, co-director of the Coalition.
As for the virtues of the electronic cigarette to stop smoking, Flory Doucas insists on the fact that the manufacturers only have to go through the approval process from Health Canada, as the manufacturers of nicotine patches have done.
« Nothing prevents manufacturers of vaping products from doing the same. They want to be able to make all kinds of health claims without providing the evidence. »
The Coalition points out that several exemptions have also been granted to the vaping industry. For example, the flavors now banned for tobacco are still allowed and, most importantly, products related to electronic cigarettes are not subject to a surcharge.
The trial takes place at the Quebec City courthouse from December 3 to 21.
Source : Ici.radio-canada.ca/
