NSRA switches to support vaping
The NSRA powered most Canadian anti-tobacco legislation, now it has come out in support of vaping
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by Dave Cross
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The NSRA started in 1974 and continues to work to limit smoking and, until recently, vaping. But it has found that the part of its remit to help smokers quit has come into conflict with its position on electronic cigarettes. Consequently, in an admirable way, the organisation has taken on board current evidence, listened to experts and amended its position on vaping.
Previously, the NRSA believed, as laid out in the position statement, that E-cigarettes “pose risks to public health if they undermine tobacco control”. The ways they contended this could happen was if they became “a gateway”, “re-normalized smoking”, “undermined quitting”, or “if former smokers begin using e-cigarettes rather than maintaining complete abstinence.”
It argued for a ban on flavours that overtly target children, “such as confectionary flavours like bubble gum and sweet tart”. The NRSA also sought a ban on retail display of e-cigarettes, the promotion of e-cigarettes, and “health claims about e-cigarettes, including their effectiveness in helping smokers quit, and false and misleading claims should continue to be illegal.”
Giving evidence on the new regulations, the NRSA really set the tone for conversations to come as they surprisingly stood up for vaping. The volte-face demonstrated the organisations ability to assimilate new information and prove that it is genuinely working for the health of Canadians – something other public health experts and organisations across the world would benefit from emulating.
Further clarification came from an interview with Brent Stafford for Regulator Watch, where Stafford spoke to Pippa Beck, the NSRA’s Senior Policy Analyst.
While disputing that vaping is actually 95% safer than smoking, Beck said: “The consensus is more in the 60-80% realm, which gives us an unparalleled opportunity to make a difference in this [smoking] epidemic that we’re facing.”
She added a statement that ought to be heeded in the United States: “We shouldn’t have to wait until the science is absolutely clear, that will be decades from now. We can move now with the information that we have and, as more evidence emerges, we can fine-tune our messages. For now, it’s good enough that it’s less harmful.”
The greatest cheer will come from those who believed Bill-S5 was set to ban juice flavours. “We initially called for a ban on flavours,” Beck continued, “but as the evidence came forth, and we understood better the role of flavourings, we have nuanced our position.”
In her own words, speaking for a body that campaigned to ban flavours, Beck added: “As I’ve understood from reading the evidence, flavours really help to cut the ties between tobacco smoking and vaping. Many vapers start off on tobacco flavours, but quickly, I guess, as their sense of smell and taste start to return, can’t tolerate the flavour of tobacco and switch.”
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.
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