It’s a start, say local health advocates, but the province’s new tax on vaping products won’t in itself keep Alberta’s youth from vaping.
The provincial government tabled its 2020 budget on Feb. 27. In it was a new 20-per-cent tax on vaping products meant to combat rising rates of youth vaping.
Some 19.9 per cent of Alberta’s junior and high school students used an e-cigarette in the last month, reports Health Canada, up from the 4.8 per cent who did in 2014-15.
That works out to about 50,000 Alberta kids who are vaping and at risk of nicotine addiction and vaping-associated lung illness, the first case in Alberta of which was reported in January, said Les Hagen, executive director of Action on Smoking and Health.
“We’ve got to solve this problem.”
The proposed tax, if implemented, is similar to one already in place in B.C. It would add 20 per cent to the retail price of all vaping devices, e-liquids (including cannabis ones), and do-it-yourself vaping products (e.g. flavourings and nicotine solutions) sold in Alberta or to Albertans online. It would not apply to approved Health Canada pharmaceutical products (such as stop-smoking products), hookah or shisha products, or non-vaping cannabis.
The tax was projected to bring in some $4 million this fiscal year and $8 million the next.
It’s a start, say locals
Thomas Kirsop, who owns the Alternatives and Options vape shop in St. Albert and Morinville, questioned the effect this tax would have on youth vaping, as Health Canada's Canadian Student Tobacco, Alcohol and Drugs Survey has found about 65 per cent of youths get their e-cigarettes from social sources, not stores.
“They’re getting them from friends and relatives, swiping Dad’s vape or buying it from somebody at school. They’re not even in that taxation process.”
Youths also tend to have more disposable income than adults (as they have few expenses), which makes it easier for them to absorb price hikes, Kirsop said. A 20-per-cent tax would add about $4 to the price of a week’s worth of e-liquid (which costs $18 to $25 today) and $4 to $60 to a vaping device (which can cost $20 to $300).
A staunch opponent of youth vaping, Kirsop said government officials should instead put more effort into enforcing federal laws on vaping, which ban the sale of vaping products to anyone under 18. His anecdotal research suggests many St. Albert youths were getting their vaping materials from a specific store – one he said was still selling to youths despite him twice reporting it to authorities.
“Why aren’t we enforcing this law?”
We know from tobacco that taxes are one of the most effective ways to reduce youth smoking, Hagen said.
“It’s basic economics. If the price for a product or service goes up, demand usually goes down.”
While there hasn’t been much research on vaping taxes, Hagen said the World Health Organization has found every 10-per-cent hike in cigarette prices results in a four-per-cent drop in cigarette use in high-income nations. If vaping follows a similar pattern, Alberta’s tax could result in a roughly eight-per-cent drop in youth vaping.
While she applauded the province’s efforts, St. Albert Public board chair Glenys Edwards said a tax could not be the sole means with which to address youth vaping.
“The government has to step up and do a better job of restricting the marketing of vaping products, particularly to youth,” she said, and improve public education on the health impacts of vaping.
The province is expected to table legislation to implement this tax, as well as other measures to address youth vaping, later this spring.
