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Nova Scotia’s Health Minister Leo Glavine introduced regulations recently which will hammer electronic cigarettes in almost all ways that tobacco too is controlled. This includes prohibiting sales to anyone under the age of 19, disallowing stores from displaying, advertising, or promoting the products, and banning the sale of all flavors other than tobacco and menthol.

All the same excuses many of us are used to hear are coming with these suggested policy changes. Presumably, electronic cigarettes are growing in popularity among youth and evidence shows them to be dangerous. Smoke-Free Nova Scotia is calling them a gateway to smoking. At the same time, Glavine says there is little evidence that the products work for cessation. There’s arguments against all of this.

John Haste of Canada’s Electronic Cigarette Trade Association called the proposal a “knee-jerk” reaction based on incomplete science. While most agree that age restrictions are a reasonable move, Haste argues that there are at least 200 studies that show e-cigs are harm reduction products (i.e. their existence reduces the damage done by nicotine consumption). Many other studies also show that e-cigs don’t act as a gateway, are predominately popular among middle-aged and older current and ex-smokers, and that they work to the end of smoking cessation.

“The regulators need to stop cherry-picking studies,” says Haste.

You can read more about the policies here.

There had been a misconception that electronic cigarettes were entirely illegal within Canada’s borders. When e-cigs first came to market, Health Canada issued an advisory telling Canadians not to purchase or use electronic smoking products. The advisory argued these products may pose health risks and have not been fully evaluated for safety, quality and efficacy by Health Canada. Many took this to mean that e-cigs were banned in Canada.

But now the country’s politicians are seeing e-cigs as an open landscape on which to set their flags and claim successful implementation of policy. They might be in for more of a fight than they expect.