Cynthia Callard, executive director of Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada, said she and representatives from a number of anti-smoking organizations met this week with a senior staff member for Mental Health and Addictions Minister Ya’ara Saks.

“We left the meeting with the firm belief that we are not going to see a ban on vaping flavours this year,” she said. “We are greatly disappointed.”

Callard said the official gave a range of logistical reasons for why the restrictions weren’t going ahead — including the limited time left to enact them as the Liberal government stares down a potential spring election.

  • ProgrammingSocks
    61·
    3 days ago

    Everything the government does involving vapes is wrong. Regulating 50mg out of existence was stupid. Threatening a flavour ban for YEARS was insanely stupid. Running questionably scientific anti-vaping ads (disclaimer, that one might’ve been AB-specific, I don’t remember) was also stupid, if the goal was ever harm reduction.

    And their argument was always that kids are drawn to the colourful packaging. OK, why not make it like cannabis packaging? And then they never even did that, proving that it was all a ruse in the first place. Personally I think it was to aid in big tobacco getting them back on smokes instead.

    • Arkouda@lemmy.ca
      11·
      3 days ago

      “Big Tobacco” is also making money on vapes because they bought stakes in those companies or own them outright. They really don’t care if you smoke or vape, they get paid regardless.

      If anything the reason why a flavor ban didn’t happen is because “Big Tobacco” successfully lobbied against it.

      • ProgrammingSocks
        31·
        2 days ago

        There was a time not that long ago where that wasn’t true, and independent companies are still pretty easy to buy from. For a LONG time, tobacco companies were pushing “smokeless” devices which still involved tobacco leaf.

        For the record, I’m clean from nicotine for something like a year now. I just hate all the pseudoscientific bullshit pushed by the tobacco industry about vaporizers because they threatened their status quo.