Young people are getting hooked on vaping, despite the many unknowns. We need to develop effective counter programs before it's too late
In 1973, the band Brownsville Station released the song Smokin’ in the Boys Room. At the time, nearly half of Canadian adults and teens smoked. Reports had been coming out for years about the dangers of tobacco use but smoking was still seen as a cool thing to do. Over the next several decades, the…
Vaping comes with serious health risks, just like other tobacco products, but the Ontario government doesn't seem to care
As a clinician and researcher in the field of tobacco control, what I see happening with vaping marketing and promotion is déjà vu of the very worst kind. It’s pervasive and insidious. And in Ontario, we’re failing our youth by permitting it. Over the last 30 years, we have fought many policy battles with the…
Ongoing expansion is part of Philip Morris International’s goal to replace cigarettes with smoke-free products
A unique store selling a smoke-free alternative to conventional cigarettes is opening a flagship location today in the West Edmonton Mall. The store, operated by Rothmans, Benson & Hedges Inc., sells the IQOS product that is designed to help people quit smoking. IQOS is an electronic device that heats tobacco instead of burning it. The store has…
Vaping is still a fairly grey area as far as legislation is concerned, with laws changing consistently across the globe
With the sheer speed in which vaping and e-cigarette use has spread across the globe, it’s no surprise that regulation and legislation have been put into place to help combat the potential health risks. While e cig use is still a mostly grey area in terms of the health benefits or potential long-term risks, as…
Instead of moving to group e-cigarettes with tobacco products, new legislation should recognize the health benefits of vaping over smoking
The growing government push to restrict vaping will only worsen the cigarette-related health crisis in Canada. On the federal level, Bill S5 remains before the Senate, more than a year after it was introduced in that house. The bill is intended to amend the Tobacco Act and the Non-smokers’ Health Act, primarily to regulate the…
Nicotine is both the problem and the solution to smoking and the epidemic can be stopped by using non-combustion alternatives
At the end of July, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) did something remarkable – even revolutionary. It decided to behave in a rational way about nicotine – embracing a sensible harm-reduction approach. Canada would do well to follow. Instead, Canada has been focused on risk aversion where nicotine is concerned – and…
Shades of Stephen Harper: Bill S-5 prohibits sharing scientific information comparing the health effects of smoking cigarettes with vaping
E-cigarettes can save the lives of hundreds of thousands of Canadians and billions of taxpayer dollars, says the Canadian Constitution Foundation
Consumer fears are too often misdirected toward new innovations rather than the known harms they might reduce
Any movement to ban or curtail vaping fails to acknowledge the value that e-cigarettes have as harm-reduction devices