No changes promised to outdated tobacco law despite unflattering internal review
Posted June 24, 2024 1:50 pm.
An internal review of anti-tobacco legislation indicates the federal approach to curbing nicotine use in Canada isn’t working, but the group Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada says the Liberals have promised no remedies.
The addictions minister quietly tabled the report at the end of the spring sitting of Parliament, before MPs returned to their ridings for the summer.
It landed during an ongoing spat between the tobacco industry and the health minister, who has vowed to prevent more Canadians from becoming addicted.
The report suggests the rate of people who quit smoking has remained more or less the same for the last 20 years.
Meanwhile, rates of youth vaping have remained high, and new nicotine products have come on the market.
The review did not recommend changes to the law, though University of Waterloo professor David Hammond says the legislation has so far been insufficient.
