In a recent article in our series on vaping, CEO of the Ontario Convenience Store Association Dave Bryan said that he does not believe convenience stores to be the cause of the uptick in teen vaping. One London vape store owner, Lars Van Kessel, has a differing opinion.

Van Kessel says that convenience stores are allowed to advertise their vaping products at a much higher level than his shop.

“So whereas I can’t put an a-frame sign outside that says vapes sold here or e-cigarettes sold here or you get your e-liquid here, they can. And so you’ll see gas stations, on the pump, ‘get your Vype’. Lifestyle advertising is illegal even for them. And a lot of the advertising that’s out there does appear to be lifestyle type advertising. ‘Vaping is cool’ or ‘Vape life’ or ‘Join the vape’.”

Van Kessel also agrees that the issue comes down to lax enforcement of current regulations.

“It’s illegal to sell vapes to a kid. So start charging the people who are doing it. And if somebody who’s 20 comes into my store and is legally allowed to buy a product and then after they leave my store and give it to their little brother I have no way to stop that. And if that’s what’s happening, give him a ticket. You find a kid with a vape, find out where he got it and give him a ticket. Give the kid a ticket. If kids start getting $200 tickets for vaping maybe they’ll stop doing it.”

Van Kessel says that no one under the age of 19 is allowed in his shop and he IDs anyone who looks like they may be under 30 when entering. When asked about how variety stores that don’t have ID checks upon entrance could help curb this issue, he offered what he calls “common-sense” ideas.

“Perhaps they could have a little catalogue behind the counter and have a small sign that says vapes are sold here. Ask for a catalogue and then when they present I.D. to show that they’re 19 they would be able to see the catalogue and see what products are available.”

When this idea was shared with OCSA’s Dave Bryan, Bryan reacted negatively. He does not believe that vape shops should have any say in how convenience stores conduct business.

Van Kessel also went on to address the idea of limiting nicotine levels in convenience stores. He believes that products containing more than 20mg/ml of nicotine should be available from vape shops, but having these products in variety stores where employees are not equipped to answer any questions could be dangerous.

He believes this is not dissimilar to Ontario’s stance on alcohol sales in which some grocery stores or variety stores have the ability to sell beer but not liquor due to the higher chances someone could abuse the product.

He says that these high nicotine products are the type of products teens are purchasing for one specific reason. A nicotine high.

He says that this is the component many fail to address when talking about the idea of flavour bans.

“They say take away the flavours and kids won’t like the flavours. But if they’re vaping for the buzz they don’t care about the flavour either. And then what you’re going to do is acclimate that pleasure they receive from the buzz of the nicotine with the flavour of tobacco. So you may just push them towards cigarettes. Whereas if they are vaping a flavour that’s berries or minty chocolate, the idea of tobacco after that is absolutely ridiculous.”

Another point raised by OCSA’s Dave Bryan was that teens are purchasing their vapes online. Van Kessel’s store makes it clear on their website that those under 19 are not to purchase their products online. Their policy reads:

“ID will be required upon delivery. Failure to provide matching ID to the credit card and account name will result in the product being returned. For all returns, the return delivery charge will be billed along with a 20% restocking fee.”

While there may not be any direct answers as to how teens are getting their hands on vaping products, it is clear that there are a number of ways their impact could be reduced in the future.

Flickr photo attribution: vaping360.com