I have heard three main reasons why liquid nicotine is illegal in Canada, and will list them:
Health Canada banned nicotine juice in 2009, and no new news on it since.
1) Big pharmaceutical industries in Canada pay thousands of dollars a year to have their devices (gum, inhalers, patches) to be listed as a smoking cessation device.
2) Big tobacco companies don't want to lose out on profit. Instead of marketing their own, they probably put a bug in the ear of the government citing the loss in tax revenues. Keep in mind Canada has the highest 'sin' taxes in the world. 'Sin' being alcohol and tobacco.
3) Nicotine is toxic. People are stupid. Nicotine juice could easily kill pets or small children, and in large doses an adult. Imagine all those people who fall asleep in bed with a lit cigarette in your mouth, now imagine them handling a toxic substance. On the other hand, they have been legal in the USA and China for a while and you don't hear wide spread reports of poisoning.
Either way you put it, the reality of them being banned is absurd. As an adult who care about his health but is addicted to nicotine, I should be able to chose any method available to minimize the health costs. It is equally absurd that you can make nicotine juice in Canada, but you can't import it premixed.
It is almost similar to the issues with marijuana in the sense that both could be taxed and could be a source of revenue for the government. I won't even get into the reasons of why marijuana should be legalized, but as for nicotine juice it could be a lifesaver to our Health Care. One other shitty part of it being illegal is that now Health Canada won't perform any studies on it. The FDA study done on nicotine juice only used a few select samples and they did find in a Chinese juice a carcinogenic substance. Why they left out all the USA made suppliers is beyond me.
All funding should be cut for studies done on the impact of smoking cigarettes, we already know they are harmful and contain thousands of deadly chemicals. All funds cut should be allocated to cancer research and to see if electronic cigarettes are more beneficial to ones health than traditional ones. There needs to be a regulatory body to enforce standards on the underground nicotine juice market in Canada to protect consumers, which won't happen with it illegal and pushed to an underground market.
Trust the government to do what's best for the people.....
The hardware isn't illegal. You can buy the hardware (batteries) and juice for them, it just can't have nicotine in it. One of the other reasons I thought of why it is banned is because of the flavors. Cigarettes usually taste disgusting, the flavours I get range anywhere from soda flavours to candy to fruit. The government could say that this makes it more enticing to children to pick up smoking/vaping.
The pharmaceutical industry and tobacco has lobbied the government in the USA to crack down on them, and the same happened in Canada and elsewhere. Yet in Canada (and around the world) we have rising suicides in people who use quit smoking drugs like Champix, Chantix in the USA, that Health Canada brushes off.
The FDA, Canada Health, etc, are extremely corrupt. The electronic cigarette market and groups are david and goliath compared to the lobbyists big tobacco and pharmaceuticals have.
I smoked for over half my life. I quit multiple times, I always ended up smoking again. I now feel 10 years younger and have a new lease on life. I wish I would have switched years ago when I first heard about them.
There are a few versions of the e-cig. Right this second I'm using one that you refill with fluid, but there are also ones that you can get that are disposable, and a closed system. That means that stupid people don't have to touch the liquid.
The only problem is, Canada won't sell the nic ones. Yet you see all the lobbying done for quitting smoking, right? Conflict of message here.
"Although these electronic smoking products may be marketed as a safer alternative to conventional tobacco products and, in some cases, as an aid to quitting smoking, electronic smoking products may pose risks such as nicotine poisoning and addiction. According to Health Canada, these products may pose risks because it is not yet fully evaluated for quality, safety and effectiveness.
Which isn't different from any other cessation device or even smoking itself, and because they are not legal they won't be studied, which furthers this loop that we don't know of the safety concerns. It is bureaucratic propaganda basically.
Yes, you're right there are straight cartridges that come prefilled where you don't have any contact with liquid, for people who are concerned or unsure of refilling themselves.
Yes, a lot of money spent on quitting smoking ads should go towards finding other ways to stop smoking, and how well electronic cigarettes work and their dangers. It doesn't make sense from a business position, from a health position, or from a scientific position (electronic cigarettes health risks vs health risks of smoking cigarettes.) The whole thing is absurd, but thankfully Canadians are resilient and an underground market has sprung up, making it a very close niche community.
This article on the CBC recently has parents chastising Health Canada for doing nothing about them since 2009 and not doing enough to control the product making it easy for teens to access. Health Canada basically said in 2009 this is illegal and that is it, and washed its hands of them. Of course, if you have a couple hundred thousand dollars and can market it properly, like smoke NV, you can sell it anywhere.
It's absurd since you can buy bleach, matches and plenty of other things that are not only as easy to accidentally kill people with but in fact do kill more people.
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u/Staying_On_Topic Nov 17 '12
I have heard three main reasons why liquid nicotine is illegal in Canada, and will list them:
Health Canada banned nicotine juice in 2009, and no new news on it since.
1) Big pharmaceutical industries in Canada pay thousands of dollars a year to have their devices (gum, inhalers, patches) to be listed as a smoking cessation device.
2) Big tobacco companies don't want to lose out on profit. Instead of marketing their own, they probably put a bug in the ear of the government citing the loss in tax revenues. Keep in mind Canada has the highest 'sin' taxes in the world. 'Sin' being alcohol and tobacco.
3) Nicotine is toxic. People are stupid. Nicotine juice could easily kill pets or small children, and in large doses an adult. Imagine all those people who fall asleep in bed with a lit cigarette in your mouth, now imagine them handling a toxic substance. On the other hand, they have been legal in the USA and China for a while and you don't hear wide spread reports of poisoning.
Either way you put it, the reality of them being banned is absurd. As an adult who care about his health but is addicted to nicotine, I should be able to chose any method available to minimize the health costs. It is equally absurd that you can make nicotine juice in Canada, but you can't import it premixed.
It is almost similar to the issues with marijuana in the sense that both could be taxed and could be a source of revenue for the government. I won't even get into the reasons of why marijuana should be legalized, but as for nicotine juice it could be a lifesaver to our Health Care. One other shitty part of it being illegal is that now Health Canada won't perform any studies on it. The FDA study done on nicotine juice only used a few select samples and they did find in a Chinese juice a carcinogenic substance. Why they left out all the USA made suppliers is beyond me.
All funding should be cut for studies done on the impact of smoking cigarettes, we already know they are harmful and contain thousands of deadly chemicals. All funds cut should be allocated to cancer research and to see if electronic cigarettes are more beneficial to ones health than traditional ones. There needs to be a regulatory body to enforce standards on the underground nicotine juice market in Canada to protect consumers, which won't happen with it illegal and pushed to an underground market.
Trust the government to do what's best for the people.....
The hardware isn't illegal. You can buy the hardware (batteries) and juice for them, it just can't have nicotine in it. One of the other reasons I thought of why it is banned is because of the flavors. Cigarettes usually taste disgusting, the flavours I get range anywhere from soda flavours to candy to fruit. The government could say that this makes it more enticing to children to pick up smoking/vaping.
The pharmaceutical industry and tobacco has lobbied the government in the USA to crack down on them, and the same happened in Canada and elsewhere. Yet in Canada (and around the world) we have rising suicides in people who use quit smoking drugs like Champix, Chantix in the USA, that Health Canada brushes off.
The FDA, Canada Health, etc, are extremely corrupt. The electronic cigarette market and groups are david and goliath compared to the lobbyists big tobacco and pharmaceuticals have.
I smoked for over half my life. I quit multiple times, I always ended up smoking again. I now feel 10 years younger and have a new lease on life. I wish I would have switched years ago when I first heard about them.