Chief medical officer Dr. Robert Strang has said the province has no intention of backing away from its law because of the legal challenge by Imperial Tobacco. Other provinces are also moving towards banning flavoured tobacco, including menthol

Chief medical officer Dr. Robert Strang has said the province has no intention of backing away from its law because of the legal challenge by Imperial Tobacco. Other provinces are also moving towards banning flavoured tobacco, including menthol
Photo Credit: CBC

World first: All flavoured tobaccos banned in Nova Scotia

The east coast Canadian province of Nova Scotia is the first jurisdiction in the world to enact a ban on the sale of flavoured tobaccos. This included menthol flavor.

The ban came into effect today, June 1st.

Other provinces are following the maritime province’s lead. Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick are introducing flavoured tobacco bans and PEI has shown interest.  The prairie province of Alberta also announced a ban on flavoured tobacco products. This also takes effect today, but it presently excludes menthol and pipe tobaccos and cigars above a certain weight and price. Quebec recently introduced a new smoking law, which bans smoking regular and e-cigarettes on patios

Imperial Tobacco announced last week they are taking legal action against Nova Scotia’s “knee-jerk” reaction, adding the ban exceeds provincial authority.

Nova Scotia’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr Robert Strang said the threat of legal action will not stop the province’s intention to ban all flavoured tobacco sales.

With the newly elected New Democratic Party in power in Alberta now installed, they have announced that menthol will also be included in their ban starting this fall. The legislation also sets  minimum package sizes for some products in an effort to discourage young people buying cigarettes.

Imperial Tobacco said it is looking into the Alberta legislation adding that the federal government has twice excluded menthol from tobacco bans because there was no direct evidence that menthol products were attractive to young smokers.

Meanwhile, Les Hagen, executive director of Action on Smoking and Health, an anti-smoking advocacy group based in western Canada is urging both provincial and federal levels of government to introduce more regulation for e-cigarettes and tobacco packaging.

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