A recent study published in the Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention Journal by the Public Health Agency of Canada showed the potential of flavoured vaping products as a tool to assist Canadian adults in quitting smoking cigarettes.
The analysis, part of the 2022 International Tobacco Control Four Country Smoking and Vaping Survey, involved 1,771 adults who currently smoke or have recently quit.
Researchers found that one in five Canadian adults used a nicotine vaping product (NVP) during their most recent attempt to quit smoking.
Most participants used fruit-flavoured e-liquids in pre-filled cartridges or pods, with 68% using flavours that would be prohibited under a proposed Health Canada policy restricting e-liquid options to tobacco, mint, and menthol.
The findings highlight the importance of flavours in helping adult smokers switch to vaping and quit smoking.
According to the study, e-liquid flavours play a key role in the initiation, maintenance, and overall satisfaction of using NVPs.
While some provinces and territories have already restricted flavoured vaping products, researchers caution that banning these flavours nationwide could reduce the appeal of vaping to adults who want to quit smoking.
No significant differences emerged in the types of devices or flavours used by participants who successfully quit smoking compared to those who did not.
However, the strong preference for flavoured NVPs among adults aiming to stop smoking underlines the need for further research on how these products can help smokers quit.
Public health authorities and governments are encouraged to avoid sweeping flavour bans before more data are collected.
Instead, the study proposes stronger enforcement measures to prevent youth access, while preserving the range of flavours that many adults rely on to quit cigarettes.
“Today, there are 1.9 million Canadian adults that are vaping instead of smoking, with 90% relying on flavours beyond tobacco, mint, and menthol. It is important to keep as many Canadians as possible from returning to cigarettes so Canada can meet its goal of a less than 5% smoking rate by 2035,” said Sam Tam, President of the Canadian Vaping Association.
“We must stop the misinformation that flavour bans are the only solution to stop youth from vaping, when this product is age-restricted to adults. We need stronger enforcement to raise the level of compliance, not bans. Reducing smoking rates in Canada must remain a top public health priority, as this study demonstrates. If achieving this means adopting less harmful alternatives like nicotine vaping products, we must be truthful to Canadians that it's better for them to vape than to smoke."
