British Columbia’s Health Minister, Adrian Dix, has voiced his interest in observing international efforts to further restrict the sale of cigarettes to young individuals.
New Zealand recently made headlines by enacting unprecedented legislation that effectively bans the sale of cigarettes to anyone born on or after January 1, 2009. In a similar move, the United Kingdom has proposed legislation to incrementally raise the smoking age by one year each year until it encompasses the entire population.
The United Kingdom’s government has asserted that this approach “has the potential to phase out smoking in young people almost completely as early as 2040.”
“I’m very interested in what they’re doing in New Zealand and in the United Kingdom,” stated Adrian Dix during an interview with Global News at the B.C. legislature on Thursday. “There’s more to be done, and I’m open to all ideas on how to reduce it.”
Statistics Canada reports that British Columbia currently boasts the lowest smoking prevalence of any province, with only eight percent of residents aged 15 and older identifying as smokers, in contrast to Newfoundland and Labrador’s 15 percent. Nonetheless, the province does grapple with a higher-than-average rate of youth vaping, as highlighted by Minister Dix.
In response, British Columbia has implemented measures aimed at curbing these numbers, including restrictions on the sale of flavored vaping products to adult-only establishments, mandatory health warnings on product labels, and limits on nicotine content in pods or liquids to less than 20 mg/mL. Retailers are also prohibited from selling non-nicotine or nicotine-cannabis blended vapor products, and advertising for such products is restricted in areas accessible to or visible by youth.
Rob Cunningham, a senior policy analyst with the Canadian Cancer Society, expressed concern about the lack of tobacco control measures in British Columbia over the past 15 years. He emphasized that smoking remains a leading preventable cause of disease and death in the province and Canada, with a significant number of new smokers being underage youth.
Cunningham suggested that British Columbia should follow the examples set by New Zealand and the United Kingdom by tightening cigarette sales regulations for young individuals and implementing a more comprehensive taxation program for cigarette sales.
Minister Dix, while not making firm commitments, referred to British Columbia’s low smoking rates as a significant achievement. He stated, “The most important thing is how many people smoke. We have the lowest rates of smoking of any jurisdiction in Canada. That’s because of the steps we’ve taken, but also because of the views of British Columbians, of youth who have spoken to youth on this question.”
Currently, British Columbia is the only province in Canada that permits the sale of cigarettes in pharmacies and does not have a provincial ban on smoking on outdoor patios, although certain municipalities like Victoria and Metro Vancouver have enacted bylaws against outdoor smoking.
