Nova Scotia bans flavoured e-liquids
While various Canadian provinces have been dealing with proposed flavour bans, Nova Scotia has now officially and explicitly banned e-cigarette flavours from being sold in the province.
Announced by Nova Scotia Health Minister Randy Delorey, the ban is set to take effect April 1, 2020. According to Delorey, “this decision is in response to our concerns about the growth in particular of youth vaping.”
In addition to the banning of flavoured e-liquids, Delorey noted that the province would also roll out a public health education campaign and more vaping legislation in the new year. Currently, Nova Scotia’s only e-cigarette regulation notes that all vaping products cannot be sold to anyone under 19.
Flavour ban passes in New York City
In a somewhat expected move, the New York City Council has approved a ban on the sale of flavoured vaping products by a vote of 42-2. The new law will come into effect in the next six months.
In response to this vote, vaping advocates gathered on the balcony at City Hall and threw cash off the balcony. Several vaping advocates could also be heard shouting “big tobacco thanks you,” as bills fell down onto the NYC politicians. The bill is expected to be signed into law by Mayor Bill DiBlasio.
According to City Council Health Committee Chair Mark Levine, a sponsor of the legislation, “With this vote, the City Council is moving to ban the fruity, minty, candy-like flavours of e-cigarettes which were clearly designed to appeal to young people in the first place,”
After this passing, NYC is now the largest political entity in the U.S. to ban flavours, beating out the entire state of Massachusetts and the city of San Fransico.
The new bill did not include menthol cigarettes, which was originally proposed in its initial readings.
*https://vaping360.com/vape-news/86974/nyc-flavor-ban-passes-as-vapers-throw-money-at-the-council/
Yale researchers develop VR game to combat youth vaping
Developed by the play4REAL Lab at the Yale Center for Health and Learning Games, this new virtual reality game aims to curb the supposed rise in youth vaping by blending health education with a fun and interactive medium.
Designed for the Oculus Go, players enter a high school-like environment and are placed in situations where they may be tempted to try an e-cigarette or vape. The developers/researchers behind the game hope that this can be used as a tool to “arm kids with the facts and information, and make them feel empowered to talk to their friends who may be vaping or who may be thinking about vaping,”
The game is still under development and was recently tested at East Shore Middle School, in Milford, by 300 seventh and eighth-grade students.
*https://www.wnpr.org/post/yale-researchers-develop-virtual-reality-game-combat-teen-vaping
Malaysia begins considerations on total e-cigarette ban
Despite housing some of the most innovative leaders in vaping, Malaysia is now considering a total ban on e-cigarettes in the country.
In a bill, proposed by Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, e-cigarettes would become underlined by a new set of regulations and controls, including sales guidelines. However, after recent health events in the U.S, an amendment to the bill has been considered which would enforce a total ban on all e-cigarettes in the country.
*https://www.vapingpost.com/2019/12/04/malaysia-considers-total-e-cigarette-ban/
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