Tag: Canada

Price rises revealed
New data supplied by Health Canada reveals that tobacco companies have repeatedly hiked cigarette prices for several years while simultaneously fighting off federal and provincial tobacco tax increases, according to a press note by Physicians for a Smoke-Free-Canada.
The price increases amount to more than C$16 per carton since 2013 and, going forward, they will represent over C$2 billion in ‘lost’ revenue annually to the federal and provincial governments, said the note, which appeared also under the imprimatur of Action on Smoking and Health, the Canadian Public Health Association and the Quebec Coalition for Tobacco Control. Since 2013, the additional revenue of the companies was said to have totalled C$4 billion.
“The tobacco companies are playing Canadian finance ministers for dupes by fighting tobacco tax increases and pocketing billions in foregone tax revenue obtained through substantial price increases” said Les Hagen, executive director for Edmonton-based Action on Smoking and Health. “Federal and provincial governments are burdened with the enormous healthcare costs resulting from tobacco use and they should not allow tobacco companies to rob them of valuable revenue to defray these costs.
“Finance ministers should respond with tobacco tax increases that will match or exceed industry price increases in their forthcoming 2019 budgets. Tobacco companies should not be allowed to cash in on their objectionable efforts to derail tobacco tax increases.”
January 18, 2019
Smoking rate rise in Canada
Health Canada is looking for outside experts to review its tobacco control strategy – a federal program that seems to have hit a wall after years of helping to drive down smoking rates, according to a story by John Paul Tasker for CBC News.
Statistics Canada data show that 16 per cent of Canadians aged 25 and older smoked tobacco in 2017, up from 13 percent in 2016.
Tasker reported that, according to a posting on Merx, a website used by Ottawa to list outstanding government tenders, Health Canada is asking contractors to prepare a report on the ‘value for money’ of the longstanding, multi-million-dollar program that has sought to reduce the number of smokers in Canada. The review would look back at how well the Federal Tobacco Control Strategy (FTCS) performed between 2001 and 2017.
But David Hammond of the University of Waterloo, one of Canada’s foremost experts on tobacco controls, said the proposed historical review should take a backseat to an urgently needed, fundamental “rethink” of the current tobacco control program.
Hammond said there had been some substantial changes in the nicotine market since the FTCS was launched, with the recent legalization of electronic cigarettes and the introduction of more sophisticated vaping devices.
The federal government, Hammond said, could go beyond the standardized tobacco-packaging regulations it was set to introduce and pursue more restrictions on where cigarettes could be sold.
And Ottawa was urged to pursue new regulatory controls over cigarettes. “Where we’ve struggled is on the product side,” said Hammond. “We’re really good at telling people not to smoke. We’re pretty good at telling them where not to smoke.
“We’re not great at actually helping them to quit.
Where we’ve really dropped the ball is in dealing with the product. We’ve done nothing to make cigarettes less harmful or addictive.”
He suggested Ottawa could do more to “incentivize people to get off smoke” by championing e-cigarettes and vaping products as safer alternatives to traditional cigarettes. “We have to get off smoke.”
November 28, 2018
Smoking more in Canada
New Health Canada figures show that Canadians over 25 years of age smoked more tobacco and cannabis last year than they did two years previously, according to a Canada Press story published at ottawamatters.com.
Health Canada tracks trends in tobacco, alcohol and drug use among Canadians 15 years of age and older to help develop policies and programs.
The prevalence of cigarette smoking among those over 25 was 16 percent in 2017, up from 13 percent two years earlier.
And 13 percent of people aged 25 or older reported having used cannabis during the last year, up from 10 percent in 2015.
The federal survey results showed little or no change in consumption habits of those in the 15-to-24-year-old age bracket, and little change in the percentage of Canadians who’d used opioids: 12 percent, down from 13 percent in 2015.
The figures came days after the federal government legalized recreational marijuana use for those aged 18 or 19 and older, depending on the province.
The government aims to drive the overall tobacco-smoking rate in Canada to less than five percent by 2035.
The latest survey was conducted from February to December last year through telephone interviews with 16,349 respondents in all 10 provinces.
The survey found also that 15 percent of Canadians aged 15 and older had ever tried an e-cigarette in 2017, up from 13 percent in 2015. However, past-30-day use of e-cigarettes was unchanged from 2015, at three percent.
November 5, 2018
The warning that burns
Canada could become the first country to require cigarette manufacturers to include on individual cigarettes warnings about the dangers of tobacco consumption, according to a story by Ryan Flanagan at ctvnews.ca.
The federal government has launched a consultation and one of the most significant ideas being floated in the consultation concerns a possible requirement for ‘smoking causes cancer’ or similar wording to be included on individual cigarettes. Currently, such warnings are required to be placed on or inside cigarette packs.
‘There is recent but limited research showing that health warnings placed directly on a product, such as cigarettes, could be effective in making the product less appealing to users,’ a government consultation document reads.
Rob Cunningham, a senior policy analyst for the Canadian Cancer Society, described the proposal as a ‘logical next step’ for health warning requirements.
‘It’s an incredibly cost-effective way to reach every smoker every day with the health message,’ he reportedly told ctvnews.ca.
But Cunningham sees the proposal as having a benefit also for law enforcement. He said it would make it easier for police to detect illicitly-produced cigarettes.
Other ideas under consideration include adding brighter colors and eye-catching cartoons to existing warning labels and ensuring the various warnings on each package follow the same theme and deliver the same message.
Labels might also become mandatory for tobacco products that do not currently carry them, including water pipe tobacco and heated tobacco products.
November 1, 2018
Drug link to lung cancer
Millions of ‘Americans’ take angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors to lower their blood pressure, but a new study suggests these drugs might increase their odds of developing lung cancer, according to a story by Steven Reinberg for HealthDay citing a new study.
But lead researcher Laurent Azoulay, an associate professor of epidemiology and oncology at McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, cautioned that the research was based on an observational study that could not prove that these drugs caused lung cancer.
Among people taking the drugs for more than five years, the increased risk might be as high as 14 percent, which could represent a large number of patients, the study authors noted.
“The silver lining of our findings is that while we found an association, the risk at the individual patient level is likely low, even after 10 years of use,” Azoulay was quoted as saying.
“For this reason, this should not deter patients from taking these drugs, should their physician deem the treatment appropriate.”
October 25, 2018
Menthol ban studied
A ban on menthol cigarettes brought in by a Canadian province did not trigger a rise in the sales of illegal cigarettes that was predicted by the tobacco industry, according to an American Cancer Society (ACS) story published by HealthDay and citing a new study.
The story said that when Nova Scotia became the first jurisdiction in the world to ban menthol cigarettes in May 2015, the ‘tobacco industry’ claimed that “the primary effect of this law will be to increase the illegal tobacco market in Nova Scotia”.
To determine if that were true, study author Michal Stoklosa, an economic and health policy research scientist at the ACS, analyzed Nova Scotia government data from 2007-2008 to 2017-2018.
His study found a large decrease in the number of seized illicit cigarettes of any kind, from more than 60,000 cartons in 2007-2008 to just under 10,000 cartons in 2017-2018. Most of this decline occurred in the late 2000s, which was said to suggest that there was no link between seizures and the menthol cigarette ban.
There was no statistically significant difference in the number of cigarettes seized before and after menthol cigarettes were banned, according to the researchers.
“This indicates that illicit cigarette sales in the province are similarly unlikely to be increasing,” Stoklosa was quoted as saying in an ACS news release.
“Indeed, Nova Scotia tax authorities estimate that the prevalence of illegal tobacco in the province has actually decreased, from 30 percent of all tobacco consumed in 2006-2007 to less than 10 percent in 2016-2017.”
The study findings were published on October 11 in the journal Tobacco Control.
October 18, 2018
It's been a long time coming
Fontem Ventures today filed comments on Health Canada’s proposed list of statements for use in the promotion of vaping products.
“As outlined in our filing, we think Health Canada has chosen the correct and responsible way to help smokers make the best, evidence-based decisions if they consider switching to vaping,” said Ross Parker, Fontem’s director of corporate affairs and communications.
Fontem is launching its myblu pod-based e-vapor device and myblu Intense flavors in retail outlets on a trial basis in Quebec, Canada, this month, ahead of a nation-wide launch in January.
In its filing, Fontem said that any promotional messages should reflect both the risks and the benefits of the category so that adult smokers can make informed choices.
‘Such information should not exaggerate risks to deter use, and Fontem believes Health Canada’s proposed statements strike a good balance,’ Fontem said in a note posted on its website.
‘If adopted, these statements would be the first authorised promotional statements to recognise and maximise the opportunities of vaping products in tobacco harm reduction.’
“More jurisdictions should follow Canada’s lead,” said Parker. “Informed consumers will make better choices, which could lead to better public health outcomes.”
Health Canada issued a request for comments on September 4, and said it was exploring options for future regulations that would permit the use of certain comparative statements in vaping product promotion, with the objective of preventing consumers from being misled about the health hazards of vaping products.
The selected permitted statements would be supported by science and expressed in clear terms to ensure that tobacco users were better informed about the relative health effects of using vaping products.
The statements proposed by Health Canada are:
* If you are a smoker, switching completely to vaping is a much less harmful option.
* While vaping products emit toxic substances, the amount is significantly lower than in tobacco smoke.
* By switching completely to vaping products, smokers are exposed to a small fraction of the 7,000 chemicals found in tobacco smoke.
* Switching completely from combustible tobacco cigarettes to e-cigarettes significantly reduces users’ exposure to numerous toxic and cancer-causing substances.
* Completely replacing your cigarette with a vaping product will significantly reduce your exposure to numerous toxic and cancer-causing substances.
* Switching completely from smoking to e-cigarettes will reduce harms to your health.
* Completely replacing your cigarette with an e-cigarette will reduce harms to your health.
Fontem’s response to Health Canada, including its suggested statements, can be found here.
September 18, 2018
Juul launching in Canada
Electronic cigarette maker Juul Labs has plans to convert Canada’s five million adult smokers into vapers, according to a story by Jenny Peng for the Toronto Star.
The San Francisco-based company was quoted as saying that its proposed expansion followed the passing of a Canadian law legalizing the sale of vaping products to those 19 years and older from May this year.
The company announced on Thursday that it intends to start selling products on an e-commerce website, and that, from this week, consumers would start to see them in vapor shops and gas and convenience stores across the country.
“The idea is to transition users off of combustible cigarettes and to a vaping system,” Mike Nederhoff, general manager of Canadian operations, was quoted as saying. After the initial introduction of a five percent nicotine-level pod, the company’s plan is to offer a three percent nicotine pod, and a 1.5 percent nicotine pod.
Not everybody is happy with the plans. Carolyn Tuckwell, CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of South Coast British Columbia, which serves 12,000 young people and families annually, said that even if Juul stated it was not advertising to young people, there were features about the product and its portrayal of “happy” and “attractive” young people in its advertising that made it appealing to “underage youth”.
September 3, 2018
Cannabis plans advanced
Goldleaf Pharm, a subsidiary of FIGR Cannabis, has completed the purchase of a 20-acre property adjacent to its facility in Simcoe, Ontario, Canada.
FIGR Cannabis is an indirect subsidiary of Alliance One International, which described the purchase as a significant step forward in FIGR’s expansion plans.
“Goldleaf Pharm is advancing through focused expansion in order to meet the needs of Canadians as we prepare for the legalization of recreational cannabis in Canada,” said Larry Huszczo, co-founder of Goldleaf.
“The additional 20-acres of land will give us more production space with the ability to grow our current footprint to more than 700,000 square feet.”
Meanwhile, Volker Lauterbach, the president of FIGR said his company was continuing to innovate by focusing on brand and product development. “Closing this deal moves us toward our overall strategy and investment goal of reaching one million square feet of production space for our Ontario and Prince Edward Island locations,” he said. “The Goldleaf Pharm expansion will add well-located production space to support capacity and product development.”
Alliance described Goldleaf as a ‘late-stage applicant under Health Canada’s Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations for required licensing to produce and sell medicinal cannabis in Ontario’.
August 13, 2018
Records release ruled out
The Canadian province of British Columbia (BC) does not have to hand over the detailed health-care records of millions of people requested by Philip Morris International, according to a story by Catharine Tunney for CBC News reporting on a decision by Canada’s top court.
Tunney said that a unanimous Supreme Court decision on Friday morning had cleared a hurdle in the province’s quest to sue cigarette companies for billions of dollars in health-care costs.
Writing for the court, Justice Russell Brown found the health care databases PMI wanted contained information about individuals whose privacy the province was obligated to protect.
The ruling is the latest chapter in BC’s legal fight to force cigarette makers such as PMI to compensate the province for the cost of treating tobacco-related illnesses, a battle that started in the late 1990s.
PMI had argued it needed unfettered access to individuals’ health data to defend itself in court.
The province’s lawyers argued that releasing individuals’ health information – even anonymously – could violate privacy laws.
July 16, 2018