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Tag: advertising

  • Vancouver City proposes banning vape ads & other restrictions to curb youth vaping.

    Vancouver City proposes banning vape ads & other restrictions to curb youth vaping.

    Vancouver City proposes a motion to ban vape ads & minimum distances between vape shops and schools.

    Lisa Dominato has put forward a motion to limit the sale and promotion of vape equipment and Vape Ads within Vancouver City.

    There are currently no restrictions on the sales of vaping products and she is looking to change that.

    Counselor Rebecca Bligh wants restrictions that would limit how close vaping shops can be to schools as well as youth-oriented facilities. She is also looking to ban any advertisements on city-owned properties.

    The Health Minister of British Columbia stated on October 29 that British Columbia is planning regulatory action that would involve education, youth empowerment, and governmental pressure regarding the use of vaping in British Columbia.

    If this motion passes, Dominato is looking to have a framework available for early 2020

    Dominato stated “It feels like we are a little bit in catch-up mode” when discussing this motion.

    From our perspective at Canada Vapes, we appreciate the effort being made by any municipalities working to restrict access to vaping products for youth. We believe it’s equally important to ensure all retail locations of vaping products in British Columbia, as well as across Canada, are being regulated to ensure they are not selling the products to minors. Vaping nicotine e-liquid is a product and service designed for adult smokers looking to transition to a safer alternative.

    Thanks to CBC for the content for this article.

  • Ontario government set to ban vape advertising in gas stations and convenience stores

    Ontario government set to ban vape advertising in gas stations and convenience stores

    The Province of Ontario has announced its plans to place a ban on advertising of any vaping-related products inside of variety stores and convenience stores.  This ban is set to be in place on January 1, 2020.

    This ban is set up to regulate advertising in areas where the general public has access.  It will not affect current exclusive vape shops or cannabis retail stores that already have adult-only 19+ restrictions in their businesses.

    The health minister of Ontario has confirmed that the ban will be in effect January 1st, 2020.

    Recently, Richmond, British Columbia, banned advertising for vape products on city property.

    The design of this ban is to reduce the potential interacting with vaping promotions to youth, who can visit gas stations and grocery stores without any age restrictions.

    Health Minister Christine Elliot stated in her release:  “Restricting the promotion of vapour products will help prevent youth from being exposed and influenced by promotion in retail settings”.

    This ban is being considered by some as the first step by the Ontario government, who is behind some other provincial regulators.  Rob Cunningham, from the Canadian Cancer Society, states “There are eight provinces that have e-cigarette legislation” The two that don’t are Alberta and Saskatchewan”.

    Other areas being looked into by the Ontario government as it relates to vaping are:

    • Restricting the sale of vaping products to specialty stores
    • Considering raising the age to purchase vaping products to 21
    • Limiting the range of flavoring in vaping e-liquids

    WHAT DO WE THINK?

    From my perspective, as the owner of a specialty vape shop in London, Ontario, I applaud the Ontario government.  About a year ago when I started seeing advertisements for vape products on my gas station pump at Petro Canada in London, I was taken aback.  I had been under the understanding that outside public advertising of vape products was already banned in Ontario.

    What it ended up being was the big tobacco companies, who now own Vype and Juul, using their access to gas stations and convenience stores through their sales of cigarettes, and using this access as an easy area for promotion of their vaping products.

    It was never the independent vape shop owner responsible for this type of advertising, but Big Tobacco.  I believe that limiting adverting to only inside of vape shops, and requiring only legal adults to visit said vape shops will improve the success in combating under age purchasing of vaping products.  This is similar to our beer and liquor stores, which require you to be 19+ to enter and purchase products.  However, with new Ontario regulations offering beer to be purchased at grocery stores, this same regulation is not in place for alcohol in Ontario, which in my opinion is unfortunate – but that’s a conversation for another day…

    Information for the article thanks to CBC.

    Howie

  • Health Canada May Permit Promotion of Vaping’s Health Benefits

    Health Canada May Permit Promotion of Vaping’s Health Benefits

    Federal Government’s Consideration

    Our federal government is contemplating allowing vape companies to advertise the health benefits of their products.

    Potential Approved Statements

    Examples of these approved statements might include “switching completely from smoking to E-cigarettes will reduce harms to your health” and “if you are a smoker, switching completely to vaping is a much less harmful option”.

    Public Perception and Reality

    This may come as a surprise to some individuals who have been reading reports on vaping and lung disease. It is important to understand that the above statements are accurate and will be beneficial to current smokers considering the use of E-cigarettes.

    The Data on Vaping-Related Illness

    The data has shown that the vast majority of individuals affected by vaping-related illness have been using THC pods that are often unregulated, and not nicotine vaping products. In fact, nicotine vaping products have been on the market for over 15 years, are currently used by an estimated 50 million people across the world, and have not shown any history of acute illness related to their use.

    The Importance of Target Audience

    The key here is to ensure that these advertisements are viewed only by adults who are currently smoking cigarettes.

    Original article available here.

  • Richmond British Columbia bans promotional advertisements for vaping on city property

    Richmond British Columbia bans promotional advertisements for vaping on city property

    City Council voted unanimously against advertisements for vaping products on any city property throughout Richmond British Columbia.

    Clay Adams, who is the spokesperson for the city of Richmond, states “vaping is a significant health issue. All the evidence suggests that, and this is the at least one thing that we can do. We hope others will follow suit and do similar.”

    I disagree with this concept that promoting any adult recreational activities or harm reducing activities should be banned across Canada. If this is going to the stance of our government, we should be banning all alcohol and gambling related advertisements in any public places. These activities both have the potential to do great harm to the youth in our Country.

    What I’d rather see, is to require any vaping advertisements to come with it additional risks and information similar to the responsible gambling rules required for promotion of gambling. To my understanding, there are no required warnings on alcohol advertisements in Canada.

    Almost everything we do carries with it a degree of risk. Unless we want to see Canada become either a nanny state, or worse some sort of socialist – communist society, there needs to be some sort of free market capabilities and grace for various products and services that are for adults.

  • Canada to Regulate E-Cigarettes; Recommendations from the Standing Committee on Health

    Canada to Regulate E-Cigarettes; Recommendations from the Standing Committee on Health

    This March the Standing Committee of Health produced a report outlining recommendations for the regulation of E-cigarettes based off of evidence collected from eight meetings with a total of thirty-three witnesses, including government officials, health officials, manufacturers, and users of the devices.  Overall  it looks hopeful, and potentially  good news for vapers in Canada.  You can read the full report here.

    The Good:

    • Recommendation 1: That the Government of Canada financially supports research on the health effects of E-cigs (potential risks and benefits), and their impact on the uptake of nicotine products by youth and on other tobacco control efforts (renormalization and potential gateway effects).  We feel that this is good because currently the claims against e-cigarettes are not supported by evidence, and conducting research is more likely to dispel disparaging attitudes than create new ones.
    • Recommendation 2: That the Government of Canada works with all affected stakeholders to establish a new legislative framework for regulating electronic cigarettes.  This is awesome because it means that they will not be regulated as tobacco, or medical products (won’t be required to have a prescription to obtain a vape etc).
    • Recommendation 7: Establish standards relating to the safety of all components of electronic cigarettes, and also require manufacturers and importers of electronic cigarettes to disclose information relating to ingredients.   We feel  that it’s important for consumers to have full disclosure.
    • Recommendation 8:  Require electronic cigarette components be sold in child resistant packaging, and that all packaging clearly and accurately indicate the concentration of nicotine and contain appropriate safety warnings about the product.  This recommendation makes sense, and would certainly improve the safety of vaping.
    • Recommendation 9: Prohibit electronic cigarette manufacturers from making unproven health claims.    We couldn’t agree with this more!
    • Recommendation 10: Prohibit the sale of electronic cigarettes or other electronic nicotine delivery systems to person under the age of 18.  Most retailers are already enforcing this rule, ourselves included.

    The Bad:

    • Recommendation 5: Electronic Cigarettes be required to be visually distinct from other tobacco products (ie not look like a cigarette, like our e-dart).   This recommendation is based off of the fear that vaping may re-normalize tobacco use, and as outlined in recommendation 1 there currently is not enough evidence to support the claim. 
    • Recommendation 6: Establish maximum levels of nicotine contained in electronic cigarette liquid or vapour.   This could pose unnecessary limitations on consumers , as the amount of nicotine considered to be safe in e-liquid is well over the amount currently found in even the highest concentrations available.

    The Ugly:

    • Recommendation 11: Prohibit the use of electronic cigarettes and other electronic nicotine delivery systems in federally regulated public spaces.  This would prohibit vaping in bars, restaurants, and other places that may want to cater to vapers. 
    • Recommendation 12: Restrictions for advertising and promotional activities for these products.  This recommendation greatly imposes on businesses and consumers ability to connect with appropriate harm reduction devices. 
    • Recommendation 14: Prohibit the use of flavourings in electronic cigarette liquids that are specifically designed to appeal to youth, such as candy flavourings.  This recommendation comes from the baseless idea that youth, whom are mostly mimicking adult behaviors when they engage in smoking may be drawn to vaping because of candy flavours.  A large amount of vapers prefer sweet and fruity flavours, and this would pose unnecessary restrictions on them.
      Overall the recommendations to regulate e-cigarettes are very reasonable, other than the few that lack supporting evidence to warrant their creation (in their current forms).  While some of the recommendations are not favourable  we feel positive that if The Canadian Government continues to work with all stakeholders and pays close attention to research coming forward in support of vaping we will have a world class regulatory system.
  • Electronic Cigarette Advertisements – Will They Be Banned?

    Electronic Cigarette Advertisements – Will They Be Banned?

    A recent US rule implemented by the FDA is attempting to regulate the sale of electronic cigarettes to minors.  While this is certainly a good thing, and a positive step in the US electronic cigarette market, it is leaving many people wondering if this is just the first step in an electronic cigarette laundry list of to be regulated by the FDA.  FDA commissioner Margaret Hamburg said the current proposal “lays the foundation for many more actions and activities.”  What this means is that this rule is essentially the groundwork for future policies and regulations laid out by the FDA in the future in restrictions towards electronic cigarettes.   My personal belief is that the FDA is choosing a ban on minors as their ‘entry rule’ so that everyone will be behind them, and then continue to add and implement other ‘grey area’ rulings regarding electronic cigarettes.  The two two that everyone is talking about is advertising of electronic cigarettes, and the sale of fruity or candy e-liquids to customers.  We are going to discuss advertising of electronic cigarettes in this story. Some are suggesting some US e-cigarette companies are promoting electronic cigarettes to a younger crowd. A recent advertisement from blu e-cigarettes in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit magazine in the states has suggested that some e-cigarette companies are focusing on the younger crowd when advertising their products.  Personally, this is more of a ‘sex sells’ type advertisement then anything else, however an argument could be made that if electronic cigarettes become more of an accepted social practice they would be tried and used a lot more then traditional tobacco cigarettes.  We at CanadaVapes.com have always promoted electronic cigarettes as an alternate to people currently smoking tobacco cigarettes, and never as a device for current non-smokers.