Members from the Youth4Change organization rallied before the Legislative Building, asking the government to protect Saskatchewan kids from commercial tobacco and vaping products.
Youth4Change was started in 2018 by Lung Saskatchewan and Dr. Erika Penz, Respirologist and Associate Professor at the University of Saskatchewan, to empower youth to advocate for the government to protect Saskatchewan kids from vaping products.
Youth4Change member Delia, a Grade 7 student in Saskatoon, explained some of the recommendations they have for the government.
“The use of vape products has created a real-life human experiment, and our youth are being used as the lab rats,” she said. “We know that youth are the targets of tobacco and vape products and that there is a lot that the government can do to protect us. The top two recommendations that our Youth4Change groups voted on were; 1. Banning the sale of flavoured vaping products (with an exemption of tobacco-flavoured products), and 2. Increasing the minimum age to purchase tobacco and vaping products from 18 to at least age 19.”
According to the group, Saskatchewan youth smoking and vaping rates are among the country’s highest. Youth vaping rates have soared in Saskatchewan over the past decade; an incredible 30% of Saskatchewan youth in grades 7 to 12 reported vaping in the last 30 days in 2019.
Saskatchewan is currently the only province that has a younger minimum purchase age for tobacco and vaping products (18 years) than the purchase age for alcohol and cannabis (19 years).
Dr. Erika Penz, respirologist and associate professor at the University of Saskatchewan, said that the evidence is clear that the availability of flavoured vaping products and the accessibility of
vaping products to youth is the main driver in addicting a new generation of Saskatchewan youth to nicotine
“The rise of the youth vaping epidemic, and its role in introducing youth to smoking, threatens to undermine decades of public health gains against tobacco-related illness and premature death in Saskatchewan,” she said. “Youth vaping is a very serious public health issue, and the accessibility and availability of flavoured vaping products put more youth at risk every day.”
Commercial tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of disease and death in the world, resulting in 8 million deaths worldwide, 48,000 Canadians and over 1,600 Saskatchewan residents each year.
