Canada: Health officials call for ban on tobacco sales to people born in 2008 or later

Inspired by the recently canceled project in New Zealand, public health advocates are calling on the Canadian federal government to consider banning the sale of tobacco—or even e-cigarettes—to people born on or after January 1, 2008. Also calling for a reduction in the number of points of sale and an increase in the legal purchasing age to 21 are also being called for.

At the end of November 2023, the new New Zealand government announced that it was suspending the tobacco-free generation project. in New ZealandThis planned to ban the sale of tobacco to anyone born on or after January 1, 2009.

This turnaround, orchestrated by the tobacco industry, has not, however, affected the determination of other health players to undertake a similar project. England has thus integrated a measure of this type into the presentation of the new plan to combat smoking, at the beginning of October 2023.

In Canada, several voices have recently been raised calling on the federal government to seriously consider the proposal to ban the sale of tobacco to people born in 2008 or later. Although smoking prevalence has declined to 10.1% of daily smokers in Canada, 46,000 smoking-related deaths are still recorded each year in this country. Among 12- to 18-year-olds, this smoking prevalence was 5.7% in 2020, thus allowing for the consideration of a ban on the sale of tobacco products to an entire age group.

Banning the purchase of tobacco for people born after a certain date

A few days after the announcement of New Zealand's withdrawal, Ottawa Public Health questioned Health Canada on this issue by proposing "a similar approach"[1]Dr. Vera Etches, head of medical affairs in Ottawa, argued, among other things, that New Zealand and Canada share the same goal of reducing smoking prevalence to 5% of the population—a goal shared by several other countries. Dr. Etches said other measures that had been considered in New Zealand so far, such as reduced-nicotine cigarettes or reducing the number of tobacco outlets, should also be considered. Health Canada responded that it would consider these contributions in its upcoming review of the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act.

Other voices have since echoed this sentiment. Andrew Pipe, a clinical researcher at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, urged Health Canada and the federal Minister of Health to consider this measure with the utmost care. Rob Cunningham, a legal expert with the Canadian Cancer Society, believes that we should go further by also banning the sale of e-cigarettes to people born in 2008 or later.[2]. Since these products are supposed to facilitate smoking cessation, he believes that not including them in a generational ban on tobacco products that includes e-cigarettes in Canada could create a loophole that must therefore be closed. Canada is currently one of the countries where the prevalence of e-cigarette use is highest among young people. Rob Cunningham also stressed the need to reduce the number of retailers, for both tobacco and vaping products.

These health stakeholders also agreed to call for raising the legal age at which tobacco and vaping products can be sold to 21. To date, Prince Edward Island is the only province to have set this threshold; in Quebec, Alberta, and Manitoba, the age limit is still 18, with the other provinces having raised it to 19.

Tobacco manufacturers fear such a measure

Since most smokers started smoking when they were minors, the ban on the sale of tobacco products from a certain date of birth appears to be a particularly protective measure to prevent the initiation of smoking, in a country where the effectiveness of measures is high. By affecting an entire age group, the radical nature of this measure confirms and reinforces the current ban on the sale of tobacco to minors.

This type of measure also seems to be of great concern to the tobacco industry. The setbacks observed in New Zealand and in Malaysia on this issue indicate strong interference from manufacturers. In Malaysia, whose project also included a limitation on the sale of e-cigarettes, the Malaysian Vapers Alliance, a member of the World Vapers' Alliance, was reportedly particularly active in obtaining the withdrawal of this measure.[3].

In the UK, tobacco companies have indicated that they will not oppose a ban on sales to under-21s if the proposed generational ban is abandoned.[4]They suggest that a violent public opinion campaign would be launched if the project were accepted, a barely veiled threat on the eve of an election year. As in all countries, the argument of an explosion in contraband cigarettes is also put forward to counter any effective anti-smoking measure. The proposed generational ban therefore appears to be a very real threat to the tobacco industry.

MF

[1] White-Crummey A, Ottawa Public Health urges tough anti-smoking policy that New Zealand is scrapping, CBC News, published November 30, 2023, accessed December 29, 2023.

[2] Kirkup K, Canada urged to consider lifetime ban on cigarette sales to anyone born after 2008, The Globe and Mail, published December 27, 2023, accessed December 29, 2023.

[3] Tobacco Industry Interference with Endgame Policies, Tobacco Tactics, updated December 20, 2023, accessed December 29, 2023.

[4] Parsley D, Vaughan R, Revealed: Big Tobacco's campaign to block Rishi Sunak's smoking ban, The i, published December 1, 2023, accessed December 2023