JAY GOLDBERG: Carney should embrace harm reduction for smokers

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Liberal leader Mark Carney proves himself a centrist. By ending unpopular Trudeau era policies such as capital gains plus taxes and consumer carbon taxes, Carney is clearly playing a role for the political middle.

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If Carney really wants Canadian consumers to believe he has moved in the middle, it’s time for liberals to adopt evidence-based policies. This includes transmission from the nicotine pouch from the previous government.

Former Health Minister Mark Holland bans confirmation taste Nicotine pouches and Restricted Sales are still allowed to be sold to pharmacy counters.

From a hazard reduction perspective, these actions are of zero significance.

First, decision makers should expect smokers to quit smoking from cigarettes to nicotine bags such as quit smoking products. If including more flavors encourages this transition, then it doesn’t make sense to stop it at all.

In addition, Nicorette is another smoking cessation product. Come in Gums, lozenges and sprays and are available in a variety of flavors including mint, fresh fruit, cool berries and mild spears.

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Why allow Nicorette to enjoy all kinds of flavors, but ban pouches of most flavors? The Federal Drug Administration wisely accepted Opposite Approached and approved 20 nicotine pouch flavors.

Second, under current regulations, people can still buy cigarettes in nearly every corner store and gas station, but they have to go to the pharmacy to buy products that actually help smokers quit smoking and greatly reduce harm to users.

Why are cigarettes allowed to be sold at gas stations and corner stores instead of nicotine bags?

It is important to remember that it is burning tobacco, not nicotine, which is harmful to Canadians’ health. If Canadian consumers want to be able to buy products with nicotine instead of cigarettes, it doesn’t make it easier for consumers to get more harmful products than smoking cessation tools.

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Critics of nicotine pouches believe that pouches are the portal for smoking. However, the evidence was not resolved at all.

German Federal Institute of Risk Assessment Established These pouches have very limited appeal (11-12%) for people who have never used tobacco products before, including minors.

By contrast, smokers or tobacco chewers are interested in nicotine pouches Increase to 75%.

This shouldn’t be a shocking statistic: Most smokers have spent decades trying to quit. Given that pouches provide a possible outer ramp that is far less health risk to people than smoking, it makes sense for smokers to be very interested in nicotine pouches.

At the same time, the German Federal Risk Assessment Institute also Established Nicotine pouches are almost risky and are as risky as other forms of smoking cessation tools, including nicotine plaques, gums, and sprays. According to this assessment, nicotine bags are 99% less harmful than cigarettes.

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The risk of a bag is not as good as smoking, and the vast majority of people who are interested in nicotine bags are those who smoke. These products should make it easier for people to access, not harder. But this is exactly the approach taken by the Trudeau government under the Dutch health minister.

Then there is the risk of the black market: If consumers are decided to enter the nicotine pouch to help them quit smoking, then several Canadians will turn to the risk of the black market. In Canada, contraband tobacco is a huge problem. Why are consumers encouraged to find a black market for smoking cessation products? The black market allows zero government regulations, and the government can create wise regulations on nicotine pouches by treating it as a smoking cessation tool.

Carney hopes Canadians believe he is an evidence-based politician who brings liberals back to the middle of political scope. If this is true, Carney should have looked at the previous liberal government approach to nicotine pouches and use quit smoking by making these products easier (rather than hard).

Jay Goldberg is Canadian Affairs Manager at Consumer Choice Center

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