Policymakers in Nova Scotia have come under fire after introducing heavy new regulations against vaping.
Cloud Factory Vape Shop co-owner, William MacEachern, has taken legal action against the province, challenging the controversial decision to increase tax on vaping products and ban flavoured e-liquids.
Vapers and consumer advocacy groups claims that the regulations could have a damaging effect on public health, arguing that adult smokers will struggle to switch to safer alternatives under the new regime.
They are also concerned that the regulations could seriously impact the rights of vapers in Canada.
MacEachern’s lawyer, Sarah Emery, said: “In basically doubling the cost of our applicant’s vaping products, it greatly reduces their access.
“We’re not arguing that he has an economic interest to cheap vape products as a recreational use, we’re arguing this is a matter of access and that goes to section 7 rights to security of the person.”
The Canadian Vaping Association (CVA) has offered McEachern its full support, calling for lawmakers to treat the liberties of vapers as equal to non-smokers.
“By viewing nicotine addiction as a choice, smokers are dehumanised and left behind by poor policy.
“Governments must acknowledge that in Canada all citizens are equal under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Vaping policy must respect the rights of all citizens as the lives of adult smokers quite literally depend on it.”
Canadian Vaping Association
The regulations, brought in to combat Canada’s alleged ‘youth vaping epidemic’, failed to acknowledge research which revealed flavoured e-liquids played no part in increased youth smoking rates, critics argue.
A recent Yale study concluded that the use of flavoured e-liquids “was no more associated with youth smoking initiation than vaping tobacco flavours.” It also stressed that adults who used flavoured products “were more likely to subsequently quit smoking than those who used unflavoured e-cigarettes.”
MacEachern’s lawyers claim the litigation doesn’t aim to encourage youth vaping trends, instead, the case intends to protect Nova Scotians from the dangers of combustible cigarettes.
Submissions to the injunction will be heard tomorrow (January 28), with officials declining to make a statement while the case is still in court.
Source: Global News
