2023-04-19 20:59:10
Shops specializing in the sale of vaping products will almost all close within six months of the adoption of the new law on the elimination of flavors, believes an owner disappointed by the choice of the Legault government.
• Read also: Vaping: Quebec bans flavors
The Minister of Health and Social Services, Christian Dubé, unveiled draft regulations to better regulate the electronic smoking industry. The sale of vaping products that have a flavor other than tobacco will soon be banned.
“The shops sell 80% flavored products. We will no longer have adequate income to operate. We’re going to close. The industry will not survive. I expect to see 75% of stores disappear within six months of the law,” says the owner of the eVape store in Sorel-Tracy and Contrecœur, Manuel Lavallée.
According to him, the problem among young people will not be corrected in this way. In the past, teenagers managed to obtain cigarettes and tobacco in several ways. The scenario will not be different in our time with vaping. Purchased by older friends or smuggled, the goods will still circulate.
Online purchase
“Buying online is extremely easy in a neighboring province. You go online and it’s delivered the next day. We absolutely do not solve the problem with the youth. Young people in schoolyards do not smoke traditional cigarettes. They vape. It’s not perfect, but it’s improved,” believes Mr. Lavallée, who does not deny that young people very often use vaping products with nicotine.
The businessman believes that the rules are very strict for businesses like his.
“Young people don’t come in. Except that we find vaping products in convenience stores everywhere. In Ontario, e-cigarettes are restricted to vape shops only. Accessibility is reduced and their model is interesting. This is the best method in my opinion.”
In Quebec, however, specialty stores cannot sell online.
Like many of his clients, Manuel Lavallée disagrees with the decision of the Minister of Health.
Decrease the attraction
“I smoked for 19 years. I vape watermelon! I don’t want it to taste like cigarettes. I want to get away from it. It’s risk reduction.”
In a press scrum, Minister Christian Dubé indicated that the regulation will contain four measures. In addition to eliminating flavors in vaping products, Quebec also wants to restrict the capacity of tanks and capsules, as well as the volume of refill containers for vaping liquids.
The government wants to make vaping products less attractive. For its part, the Quebec Coalition for Tobacco Control welcomed this announcement.
1682102082
#law #vaping #majority #specialized #shops #close #owner
