The British Columbia government has tabled what it says is the first law in Canada to recover health care costs from companies that use "deceptive practices" to sell vaping products.
Attorney General Niki Sharma said Wednesday in Victoria that the legislation is modelled after similar laws the government used to sue tobacco companies and opioid manufacturers.
She said some vaping companies have "engaged in deceptive practices to boost their profits" by marketing their products as safe and sometimes even beneficial, often targeting impressionable youth despite "knowing full well how untrue their claims are."
"It's always better when companies don't do these kinds of things, when they don't target people with deceptive practices about their products," Sharma said.
B.C. was the first province to sue the tobacco companies, and it is "getting better at these lawsuits," she said.
A recent settlement of $32.5 billion by tobacco companies for Canada will give B.C. $3.6 billion over the next 18 years.
"We are getting better, and we are winning," Sharma said. "So, this sets us up for being able to take on these companies in court."
Sharma could not cite a specific figure, when asked whether B.C.'s expected revenue from the future lawsuit would compare with the tobacco settlement.
She said the money from any future litigation would flow into general revenue rather than toward health care.
"It's all one pot of money that we use to provide services to British Columbia, and our health care has been growing over time," she said.
Sharma said vaping has been gaining traction in Canada, especially among young people, and its popularity threatens to reverse declining tobacco use, "one of the most important public health achievements of the recent past."
She says B.C. risks losing a "whole new generation to nicotine addiction."
Sharma could not attach a specific figure to the costs of vaping to the health care system, but said it costs everybody.
"We know that vaping has been ... linked to an increase in respiratory illnesses, increases in long-term addictions, increase in other things like mental health issues and different impacts, especially on young people," Sharma said.
Education Minister Lisa Beare says the legislation complements measures by the province to help young people understand the risks of vaping and to make educated choices.
The Canadian Vaping Association, which describes itself as "the voice for the burgeoning Canadian vaping industry," did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the proposed legislation.
The association has said it is "advocating for sensible regulations that balance adult harm reduction with youth protection and education."
The association said in an online press release dated May 30 that "vaping remains one of the most effective harm reduction tools available," saying that 1.9 million adults are vaping in Canada.
Sam Tam, president of the Canadian Vaping Association, said it shares Health Canada's goal of reducing smoking rates to less than five per cent by 2035.
Health Canada says vaping products can help people quit smoking, and switching completely to vaping is less harmful than continuing to smoke.
But it also says that no vaping products have been approved as cessation aids and vaping is "not harmless and not intended for young people."
It says children and teens are "especially susceptible" to the harmful effects of nicotine, because brain development continues through adolescence and into early adulthood.
The legal age for British Columbians to buy vaping products is 19.
B.C retailers are only allowed to sell vapour products that contain nicotine, nicotine salts or cannabis. It's illegal to sell vapour products that only contain flavours.
