UBCO expert says Canada should call for an all-out ban on nicotine pouches, regardless of the age of the user.
“Pop it in your mouth, tuck it under your upper lip and it tingles,” reads an Instagram ad for flavoured nicotine pouches. The pouches—approved for sale in Canada in July 2023—are seemingly marketed as a nicotine replacement therapy to help adults quit smoking.
But that’s not what Canada’s Minister of Health Mark Holland thinks. Last week he told the tobacco companies to “stay away from our kids” just before Health Canada issued a public advisory and a notice of intent to explore legislative and regulatory options to protect youth from these products.
In February of this year, the BC government introduced its own regulations, limiting the sale of nicotine pouches to pharmacies.
Dr. Laura Struik, an Assistant Professor in UBC Okanagan’s School of Nursing, researches the health behaviours of young people and has a particular focus on tobacco and nicotine use, including interventions to prevent youth uptake.
She goes a step further than the health minister, advocating for a total ban on these products—regardless of the age of the user—citing a lack of research on their health impacts and Canada’s treaty obligations.
Read the full story here: UBC Okanagan News