National health organizations are asking the federal government to immediately regulate the sale of flavoured nicotine pouches, a product which Ottawa approved for sale in July with no restrictions on how it’s advertised or who can purchase it.
Recently Rob Cunningham, a senior policy analyst with the Canadian Cancer Society said at the joint press conference in Ottawa that, they allow stores to sell these nicotine pouches to children of any age.
The pouches, produced by cigarette manufacturer Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd mentioned that they do not contain tobacco but do contain nicotine. This is as addictive as heroin or cocaine, says Drug Health Canada
Cunningham says that, it may say on the label that the product is only intended for those over age 18, but this is useless because a retailer who sells to minors will face no offence, no charges and no fines.
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But health organizations such as the Canadian Lung Association and the Canadian Cancer Society argue that these products are being mainly marketed to children.
These products are attractive to youth. They come in appealing flavours and come in containers which could hold candy. Definitely youth are going to be interested in them, says Cunningham.
The health organizations are not looking for an outright ban of the nicotine pouches — but they want the Health of Canada to reclassify them as a prescription product or suspend their sale until regulations are brought in, to prevent them from being sold to children.
The groups say both methods could be done quickly without regulatory changes. Under Canada’s natural health regulations, they want Ottawa to impose a temporary moratorium on the approval of any new nicotine products.
About two years ago, the Imperial Tobacco Canada said that they applied for approval for Zonnic in Canada and wants to sell the product in pharmacies, which takes longer to approve than retail sales.
Vice president of legal and external affairs for Imperial Tobacco Canada, Eric Gagnon says that, it’s part of our journey to create a better future.
We know that there’s a lot of adult consumers and a lot of adult smokers who want to quit smoking, but it’s not that easy. Zonnic is considered as a natural health product, not a pharmaceutical, Gagnon said, since it contains 4 mg or less of nicotine.
In Canada for decades, these health groups have been fighting tobacco companies and everything that we try to do, they will always oppose it. They’re more worried that tobacco companies are trying to reinvent themselves. We recognize the health risk related with smoking and we believe it’s fair for us to put a less harmful alternative to cigarettes on the market. But they don’t like that.
Gagnon said all product’s ads on social media are targeted for adults over 25 years and they ask all retailers not to sell the products to minors.
