Quebec Bans Flavors for Vaping Products

The sale of flavoured vaping products, other than tobacco flavours, will be banned in Quebec as of October 31 of this year. The new regulations announced on August 2 by the Ministry of Health will also limit the maximum nicotine concentration of vaping products to 20mg/ml and will require that certain information appear on the labelling and packaging of these products.[1]The province will also control certain characteristics of vaping product packaging to make them less appealing to young people, according to a government news release.

In addition to Quebec, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories also ban flavours in vaping products. This measure, supported in France by the National Committee Against Smoking (CNCT), has already been implemented in several countries, such as Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Ukraine.

Stopping youth addiction to nicotine through flavors

The Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, wants to use this new legislation to make these products less attractive, particularly to young people. The use of vaping products is widespread among Quebec adolescents since, according to the Quebec survey on tobacco and vaping products, 18% of 15-17 year-olds reported vaping regularly compared to 2.4% of 35-64 year-olds. More than 8 out of 10 adolescent consumers (82.2%) use e-cigarettes containing more than 20mg/ml of nicotine.

The capacity of tanks and pods will also be restricted to 2 ml and the maximum volume of e-liquid refill containers to 30 ml. In addition, vaping products will no longer be able to have the shape of a toy, jewelry, food, animal or real or fictional character or any other form, appearance or function that may be attractive to minors.

This ban is welcomed by many public health associations. The spokesperson for the Quebec Coalition for Tobacco Control said that this ban is a step in the right direction to protect young people: "When we banned flavors for cigarillos or menthol cigarettes in 2015, it led to a decrease in the use of these products among young people."

A recent study published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs[2] had shown that a total ban on flavours with the exception of menthol and tobacco flavours would be likely to lead adolescents and young adults who use e-cigarettes to stop using them.

The regulation has been heavily criticized by the vaping industry, which is concerned about its sales and which insists on the importance of flavors in quitting smoking. However, the claim that the ban on flavors would be accompanied by a return to smoking has not been verified to date.

Keywords: Flavors, vaping, flavors, youth, ban, electronic cigarette

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[1] Alice Girard-Bossé, The end of perfumes on October 31, The Canadian Press, published August 2, 2023, consulted August 3, 2023

[2] Adolescent and Young Adult Response to Hypothetical E-Liquid Flavor Restrictions, Natasha K. Sidhu, William V. Lechner, Sam N. Cwalina, Lauren Whitted, Sabrina L. Smiley, Jessica L. Barrington-Trimis, Junhan Cho, Theodore L. Wagener, Adam M. Leventhal, and Alayna P. Tackett, Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs 2023 84:2, 303-308