Quebec to ban vaping flavours and restrict nicotine content

Quebec intends to ban the sale of flavoured vaping cartridges and limit nicotine content in an effort to stem an increase in youth vaping in the province.

A recent report from the Quebec Coalition for Tobacco Control found that a third (32%) of high school students consume tobacco products or its by-products

“With the growing popularity of vaporization products, especially among young people, it becomes imperative to act to prevent a new generation from becoming addicted to nicotine because of these products,” Health Minister Christian Dubé said December 9, 2020 in a statement.

According the Montreal Gazette, "in 2015, Quebec banned the sale of flavoured tobacco products and saw a reduction in the number of high-schoolers smoking such products within 30 days. Similar action should be taken with regard to vaping, the public health researchers recommended."

With that in mind, the plan is to ban the sale of flavoured vaping products and limit nicotine concentration to 20 mg/mL (a cigarette contains about eight mg of nicotine).

The Vaping Industry Trade Association (VITA) urged the government to continue to allow the sale of flavoured vaping products in order to service ex-smokers who might otherwise return to cigarettes.