Health Canada’s controversy over electronic cigarettes

Canadians should not use electronic cigarettes as an aide to stop smoking, as “these products may cause health risks” according to Health Canada.

E-cigarettes are a billion-dollar industry in the U.S., yet in Canada, their sale is still technically illegal. With no completed safety test, electronic smoking products have yet to be granted market approval under the 1985 Food and Drugs Act.

Health Canada is being questioned for its reluctance to certify e-cigarettes as a cessation tool for those attempting to stop smoking. This despite tobacco being the leading cause of preventable death in Canada, with over 100 deaths a day due to smoking-related illnesses, according to the Propel Centre for Population Health Impact.

Research organizations don’t want to approve a product when they’ve not done “the kind of studies that are needed over a period of time that determine what the actual level of risk is” according to Steve Manske, a senior scientist & research associate professor at the University of Waterloo.

“There is work going on to see if it is a saviour [electronic cigarettes] or just perpetuating the problem. My preference would be to not make them available because I believe that they are going to perpetuate the addiction,” said Manske.

Electronic cigarettes boomed worldwide for delivering the same smoking sensation to individuals without the thousands of chemicals produced when tobacco is burned. Couple this with smoking bans in public places and demand is growing for a product that manufacturers claim only produces water vapour. However, because electronic cigarettes are not approved for sale, it also means there is currently nothing to regulate them.

Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) involves substituting nicotine from a cigarette and slowly weaning a person’s intake down until they no longer crave the drug. A study by the Propel Centre for Population Health Impact points to NRT being the second most successful way to kick the habit.

If Health Canada approves electronic cigarettes for market in Canada, it would join more commonly found products in the nicotine replacement therapy category, such as nicotine patches and gum.

Student Tim Roberts, 21, feels the lack of market authorization for e-cigarettes is only failing smokers.

“It kind of seems like double standards – people are encouraged to stop smoking – but then new alternative solutions are being held back for years, literally,” he said.

Roberts has been smoking for over four years and thinks e-cigarettes are “kind of cool if you want to smoke all the time” although he personally “like[s] rolling the cigarette – it’s more about the ritual for me.”

“I say I smoke on and off because I never quit, I just stop smoking – cut back for a bit. It’s just a mental switch you just switch it off. I don’t think I’m addicted at all, I just like smoking,” said Roberts.

Highlights from the Propel report; Tobacco Use in Canada: Patterns and Trends (2013) are as follows;

• More than 37,000 Canadians will die prematurely this year due to tobacco use
• 17.3 per cent of Canadians (approximately 4.9 million) are smokers
• Almost half of smokers had tried to quit in the past year; three in 10 had tried more than once
• Among respondents who had made a quit attempt in the past year, approximately one in 10 were still abstaining from smoking at the time they were surveyed.

The fundamental worry for anti-smoking organisations and skeptics is the possibility of “flavoured” e-cigarettes, which could entice children to pick up the habit. Couple this with investment from multi-billion dollar tobacco companies in the e-cigarette market and many see electronic cigarettes are just another way to keep people hooked.