Asha Stone is the founder of Quit Club, a community of Canadians who smoke, former smokers, and people trying to quit.
I started smoking when I was 16. Quitting was not one brave decision with a triumphant ending. It was stopping, struggling, and trying again. I tried willpower, medication, gum, vaping, pouches, yoga, and meditation. Some helped; others did not. Eventually, having alternatives to cigarettes helped me stay away from smoking.
That is why I founded Quit Club. We are former smokers and people still trying to quit. We know quitting is hard enough without the government making it harder.
Nicotine is addictive. Young people and people who do not smoke should not use it. But protecting young people and helping adults quit are not competing goals. Ottawa should set strong national safeguards. Provinces and territories should decide how adults access approved products.
On August 28, 2024, Ottawa made quitting smoking harder by moving nicotine pouches behind pharmacy counters where they could be sold only by a pharmacist or someone under a pharmacist’s supervision. Ottawa imposed these rules on every province and territory, regardless of geography, pharmacy coverage, or local needs.
The government called this balance. Health Canada said it would reduce youth use without creating significant barriers for adults trying to quit smoking.
Health Canada knew the rules could create problems. Its analysis warned of extra travel costs, disrupted quit attempts in remote communities, and the possibility that some people might return to smoking or vaping.
Maybe the rule worked exactly as Ottawa hoped. Maybe it did not. That is the point: after two years, the government still has not shown us.
What happened to youth numbers and smoker quit attempts? How many people travelled farther or abandoned the product they were using? Did illegal sales grow? Were rural communities hit harder? These are not academic questions to us. They affect what people do on the day they are close to giving up.
Ottawa made the rule and identified the risks. It should be able to tell us what happened. Instead, Canadians are being asked to take the policy on faith.
Last October, Health Minister Marjorie Michel told the House of Commons Health Committee: “I don’t see why a Canadian who wants to use nicotine pouches to quit smoking shouldn’t be able to get them at the pharmacy.”
Here is one reason: you have to be able to reach the pharmacy.
One of our members who is quitting smoking filmed his trip from Deer Island, New Brunswick, to a pharmacy in St. George. We compressed it into 53 seconds for social media. In real life, it takes 53 minutes and includes a ferry. A pharmacy is not accessible just because it exists on a map.
This is not a criticism of pharmacists. It is a criticism of a policy designed as though every Canadian lives five minutes from a pharmacy, with a car, and time to spare.
Canada is bigger than downtown Ottawa. In rural communities, access depends on weather, distance, and whether a ferry is running. When you are trying not to buy cigarettes, an extra hour is not a small inconvenience. I know how quickly a hard day can become another failed quit attempt.
Provinces better understand their communities than Ottawa does. Provinces and territories should decide whether pharmacy-only access works for their communities.
The stakes are real. Millions of adults still smoke. Most people still try to quit without help. And Ottawa is still projected to miss its own smoking target. That should make the government more determined to help people quit, not more comfortable placing new obstacles in their way.
That should be a flashing red light. Canada risks missing its smoking target. Most people are trying to quit alone, and Ottawa has made one quitting option harder to obtain without showing whether the restriction helps.
Quit Club is asking Minister Michel for something simple: transparency.
Take 30 days. Put the evidence on the table. Talk to the people who have to live with this rule. Keep what protects kids, and change what is making it harder for adults to quit.
That is not radical. It is basic accountability — and basic respect for the fact that Canada is not one neighbourhood.
Minister Michel says decisions should be based on science and data. Good. We agree. But science and data cannot remain hidden behind a government talking point.
People trying to quit should not have to pay the price for Ottawa’s uncertainty. Help smokers quit, protect young people, show us the evidence, and fix what is not working.
Asha Stone is the founder of Quit Club, a community of Canadians who smoke, former smokers, and people trying to quit.
