Flavors back on shelves: Vaping businesses exploit gray areas

Less than a month after a law banning the sale of flavored vaping products went into effect, specialty stores are exploiting the law’s gray areas by offering synthetic liquid flavors on their shelves.

Many stores changed their business model to circumvent the law, becoming convenience stores.

It allows the sale of “flavor shots,” flavored nicotine-free liquids that can be added to actual unflavored e-liquids, but can also be added to recipes or cocktails.

Newspaper It has been observed that many businesses in the province have switched to this alternative.

As the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) explains, this is a gray area because vaping businesses “cannot sell food unless they hide their display of tobacco and vaping products and convert it into a simple outlet like a convenience store.

Saying she was “very disappointed,” Flori Dougas, spokeswoman for the Quebec Alliance for Tobacco Control, also expressed some reservations about switching some of the stores, which she described as “very dubious.”

“When the sign is there, the employees still wear their uniforms, they don’t sell anything else, it’s not really a change, in my opinion, the ministry should intervene,” explains the unseen. A business that breaks the law “once again”.

“A Sword in the Water”

For its part, Quebec’s Coalition for Vapers’ Rights goes so far as to compare the law to a “sword in the water.”

“It’s certain that people are going to find a way to taste their products, and specialty stores are going to change their business objectives when they realize that their business is going to drop by 50%,” says spokeswoman Valerie Gallant.

The latter is concerned about minors who, while not yet able to purchase vaping products, will now have access to shops due to the industry shift.

“We have completely missed the main objective. […] By wanting to protect young people, we have opened the door even wider for them,” says the spokesperson.

The Ministry is analyzing the situation

However, the government has said that it is closely monitoring the situation.

“MSSS inspectors are in the field to inspect situations to verify compliance with the Act on the Fight Against Tobacco and its regulations. Manufacturers and retailers who violate the measures of the Act in force face substantial fines,” the Ministry of Health and Social Services said in a statement.