Canada’s health minister says he will seek special powers to restrict the marketing and sale of flavored nicotine pouches to youth, but it remains unclear exactly how he will do that or how quickly it will happen. It is unknown.
“To the tobacco companies that continue to find ways to exploit loopholes to get people addicted to their products, please stay away. Stay away from our children,” Mark Holland told reporters in the House of Commons on Wednesday. ” he said.
Health Canada also announced It said it would “consider legal and regulatory options” to protect young people from the risks of nicotine replacement therapy, including pouches.
Department store A public advisory has been published On Wednesday, he warned Canadians about its misuse, saying the amount of nicotine in each pouch is typically recommended for adults who smoke 25 or more cigarettes a day.
The move comes five months after a group of national health agencies urged the City of Ottawa to act quickly to prevent the products from getting into the hands of teens.
Health Minister Mark Holland said he had written to states and territories asking for their help in restricting the sale of nicotine pouches with flavors appealing to children.
fruity flavor
Last July, Health Canada approved Zonnic, the only nicotine pouch approved for sale in Canada. Manufactured by tobacco manufacturer Imperial Tobacco, it is sold as a drug to help smokers quit smoking. The user places the pouch in their mouth against their gums.
Because Zonnic does not contain tobacco and is not intended to be inhaled, it is not subject to existing federal or local tobacco, smoking, or vaping laws. It also doesn’t require a prescription because it contains less than 4 milligrams of nicotine.
Instead, the Zonnic pouch was approved under Canadian regulations. Regulations regarding natural health products — There are no restrictions on how it can be advertised, where it can be sold, or the age at which it can be purchased.
Groups such as the Canadian Cancer Society say Zonic’s fruity flavor and brightly colored packaging resemble candy, and that its ads on social media platforms such as Instagram target children. The pouches are sold behind the counter at gas stations and convenience stores, with print ads posted next to candy bars in stores.
Ottawa has approved the sale of Zonic in Canada, but it is up to each province to decide how to regulate it.
BC announced last month that it would restrict sales of Zonnic by moving it to the back of pharmacy counters. Regulations already in place in Quebec. The Netherlands expressed its hope that other countries would follow suit.
Mr Holland said he had written to state and territory officials asking them to work together to limit flavors in nicotine replacement products.
“We want to eliminate flavors that appeal to kids,” Holland said.
The Netherlands also requires Health Canada to approve any advertising.
“Your marketing? You have to show it to us before you put it out there,” he said.
Mr Holland said he wanted to take action “as soon as possible”, but said he did not have the authority at this time and it was unclear exactly how he would do it.
Health groups have warned of the consequences of not acting quickly, pointing out that e-cigarettes were initially allowed to enter the Canadian market with little regulation. The country now has one of the highest rates of teen e-cigarette use in the world.
“The tobacco industry has been able to take a whole new group of young people who have never been exposed to nicotine and addicted them to something that is absolutely deadly to their health,” Holland said. “We cannot allow something like that to happen again.”
In an interview with CBC News last week, Holland said his office is working on changing the law to prevent tobacco companies from exploiting the loophole in the future.
“This is a very litigious industry. They’ve already threatened to sue me,” he said.
“I will take up this matter as soon as possible, but … our department needs to make sure that the actions we have taken are defensible in court.”
“voluntary restraints”
An Imperial Tobacco spokesperson said the company followed regulations and underwent a two-year evaluation through Health Canada that demonstrated Zonic’s safety and effectiveness in helping adults quit smoking.
“The real loophole is that there is no legal minimum age to purchase NRT. [nicotine replacement therapies] “In Canada, we’re giving kids access to these products over the counter,” said Eric Gagnon.
Gagnon said Imperial is asking retailers selling Zonic to keep it at the counter and ask for identification.
“It’s self-regulation,” he said.
Gagnon said that after speaking with Health Canada, Imperial made changes such as voluntarily removing some of its advertising campaigns that featured young people and more clearly displaying the 18+ age label on packaging. Stated.
“We’re not interested in young people getting this product,” Gagnon said.
Rob Cunningham, senior policy analyst at the Canadian Cancer Society, said Ottawa shouldn’t rely on Imperial to make the changes needed to prevent children from becoming addicted to nicotine pouches.
“It’s simply not enough to say on the package that it can’t be sold to youth, because we know that youth are getting these,” Cunningham said, adding that stores selling Zonic to youth must not There are currently no fees or fines and it is effectively legal for them to sell to children.
“We need to protect young people with strong legislative measures, not just the claims of the tobacco industry.”
