Reducing youth vaping requires stronger legislation: health coalition

EDMONTON — A coalition of health organizations is calling on Albertans to demand stronger legislation on youth vaping.

The Campaign for a Smoke-Free Alberta is asking people to tell their MLAs that they've had enough of the loose regulations and to demand more action to address the rise of youth vaping.

According to the group, vaping by school-aged youth increased by six hundred per cent between 2015 and 2019.

“It is so dirt simple here, we’ve got a good tobacco law in Alberta let’s just combine it with the restrictions on vaping and we will enjoy the same results with reducing youth vaping we’ve seen in reduced youth smoking over the past decade,” executive director of Action on Smoking and Health Les Hagen said at the campaign launch.

The provincial government is currently reviewing the Tobacco and Smoking Reduction Act. It committed to developing and enforcing a tax on vaping products sometime in 2020.

“The explosive rise in teen vaping has been fueled by slick and sophisticated marketing campaigns and the promotion of flavoured, high-nicotine stealth vaping products," Angeline Webb with the Canadian Cancer Society said in a writtten release. "The provincial government needs to move swiftly and assertively” said Angeline Webb of the Canadian Cancer Society.

Alberta is the only province in Canada that does not have legislation to regulate vaping.

The Campaign for a Smoke-Free Alberta coalition includes the Canadian Cancer Society, the Lung Association, Alberta Blue Cross, the Alberta Policy Coalition for Cancer Prevention, the Alberta Public Health Association, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada and Action on Smoking and Health.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Matt Marshall