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EDMONTON — Like it or hate it, the Liberal government proposed this past Friday to ban the sale of menthol cigarettes across the entire country of Canada; a move that the government of Alberta had placed into effect on September 30, 2015 across the province.

A few statistics on Canadian smokers:

The Canadian government estimates that menthol cigarettes – combined with the sale of cigars – makes up for less than five percent of the entire market. This is very minimal in the grand scheme of things. Roughly fifteen percent of the Canadian population smokes cigarettes to begin with (5.4 million people). With that in mind, roughly 272,000 Canadians smoke menthol cigarettes or cigars.

If a store located within the province of Alberta is caught selling menthol cigarettes, they could be fined $500. I’m sure the same would happen to stores across the country if this proposed ban on menthol cigarettes were to occur nationwide.

Canadian provinces are the first in the world to ban the sale of flavored and menthol tobacco:

On 31 May, Nova Scotia became the first jurisdiction in the world to prohibit the sale of flavoured cigarettes and tobacco, including those flavoured with menthol. The same day, Alberta announced that it would ban menthol cigarettes as of 30 September 2015. Three other provinces, Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick, have now introduced legislation to ban flavoured tobacco, including menthol. A fourth, Prince Edward Island, has committed to do so. The Framework Convention Alliance for Tobacco Control

NoMentholBan.ca is a website created for the people of Ontario, and they quote:

A ban on menthol tobacco unfairly targets law-abiding retailers and consumers. It does not apply to illegal tobacco traffickers, who sell this product – including to youth. 43% of menthol smokers indicate that they would find another way to purchase menthols if banned. NoMentholBan.ca

On top of all of this, Health Canada has other ideas set in motion to try and prevent Canadians from smoking cigarettes:

Earlier this year, Health Canada revealed that it is studying the idea of requiring manufacturers to sell cigarettes that are less addictive – and tendered for an outside expert to provide further analysis of the concept. National Post

What is your take on this whole debacle?

Do you agree with the federal government banning the sale of menthol cigarettes within our country?

via National Post