2024-01-05 16:52:00
Since October 31, 2023, flavors have been banned in Quebec. However, they have not disappeared. Redoubled in ingenuity to keep their business going, some vape shops have managed to get around the flavor ban by somewhat transforming their business.
Flavor ban: when Quebec says no to flavors
As of November 1, 2023, in Quebec, vapers have seen their favorite flavors banned. The only flavor officially authorized now: tobacco taste.
In addition to this ban on flavors, there is a limitation on the maximum concentration of nicotine authorized, as well as the maximum capacity of tanks and cartridges, and the obligation to include certain information on vaping products.
If Christian Dubé, the Quebec Minister of Health, sees this as a good way to protect young people, many vaping players and health professionals continue to raise the alarm. For them, such restrictions will only lead to resurgence of smokingas has been demonstrated in the United States notably.
To avoid such an outcome, Quebec vapers each have their own strategy. Some people, for example, draw on their personal stocks to continue vaping their favorite aroma for as long as possible. Others now go through Ontario, which has not opted for banning flavors. And others, still, simply continue to go to their usual vape store, somewhat transformed since, in order to buy new kind of products…
… vape shops are adapting!
It didn’t take long for vape shops to find and exploit the gray areas of this law. Just a few days following the ban on flavors other than tobacco, several vape shops have had a makeover.
To avoid going out of business and continue to sell flavored products for electronic cigarettes, brands have reviewed their business model, transforming themselves into “convenience stores”, these small businesses with extended opening hours, which offer all types of everyday consumer products, including food.
Their displays, previously exclusively stocked with vaping products, now give way to items of all kinds, from candies to candles.
Much less visible, vaping products are still there. And, to replace flavor concentrates and flavored e-liquids, these vape shops now offer “flavor shots” or “drop shots”so-called artificial flavors, classified as food products and sold as “flavor enhancers” for recipes or cocktails, but which are mainly intended to be mixed in e-liquid, in the Do It Yourself (DIY) manner.
In Quebec, vaping seems to have taken a leap back in time. As in the early days of DIY, groups of vapers exchange on social networks to determine the best “flavor shots” which will replace their old favorite flavors, while sharing tips and advice for dosing and making their new homemade blends.
A dangerous bypass?
Suffice it to say that this circumvention is not to the government’s liking. “It’s very worrying, declares the office of the Quebec Minister of Health. The law is clear: it is no longer permitted to sell any product intended to be smoked or vaped containing a flavor other than tobacco. Everyone must follow the law. We must all have the health of our young people at heart. We do it for them”.
However, for the moment, Quebec seems to be at an impasse. Considered as food flavorings, these new products are not specifically intended for electronic cigarettes. What’s more, by changing their business model, vaping shops (which previously might not sell such products) are now legally able to do so.
For Valérie Gallant, the president of the Coalition of the Rights of Vapers of Quebec (CDVQ), such a circumvention was to be expected. However, she fears that this will invite some to create dangerous mixtures: “it’s great for vapers who will be able to continue to have flavored products, she indicates. My fear is that it sends a message that we can put anything”.
Whatever the case, Quebec vapers have shown it clearly: they will not let their aromas be removed so easily…
As for the rest of us, French vapers, let’s not forget tolearn the right lessons. Let’s not wait for the government to put in place its next plan antitabac 2023-2027which also plans to hire a “reflection work” around the aromas, for defend them now !
As it never stops demonstrate Science every year, aromas are an integral part of the process of stopping smoking through vaping. They significantly increase the chances of quitting, and without this multiplicity of flavors, many fear falling back into the dangers of tobacco!
Source: Vaping shops are transforming to sell flavors, Ici Québec, Radio-Canada, November 23, 2023. URL: https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2029092/boutiques-vapotage-transforment-aromes
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