Saskatchewan's Health Minister Jim Reiter introduced proposed amendments yesterday to The Tobacco Control Act to bring vaping products in line with existing tobacco legislation.

The province is concerned vaping has become a bad habit for many teenagers and young people.

Reiter noted he just rolled out November as Lung Month, and this legislation is an important step in protecting our province's youth from the harms of vaping products.

"I get concerned when I see some of the flavours that I think are obviously targetted at youth," he said. "I think it's one of the sort of core functions of government, we need to make sure that we do everything we can to protect our youth."

"On behalf of The Lung Association and its Youth4Change chapter, I applaud the Government of Saskatchewan for introducing vaping legislation aimed at protecting Saskatchewan kids," said The Lung Association of Saskatchewan Vice President of Community Engagement Jennifer May.

Reiter, while deferring to medical professionals for official declarations of the potential dangers of vaping, said he's been gaining concern about these issues for some time.

"As I said last spring, subsequently, over the summer, there was a number of news stories from I'd say around North America, talking about the concerns the medical community has with vaping," said Reiter.

Reiter said if you don't smoke, don't vape.

"What makes vaping a bit more complex, I guess I would say, than tobacco, is the fact that vaping is often used as a smoking cessation product, to get people to stop smoking, so there's a fine line there, there's a balance," he noted.

The proposed amendments will be consistent with the majority of provinces that have vaping legislation and will follow existing Saskatchewan tobacco legislation restrictions.

The amendments outlined in Bill 133 will restrict the sale of e-cigarette devices and products to individuals 18 years of age and older, and prohibit the display of the products in a retail business where young persons have access.

They'll restrict the use of vaping products in and around public buildings, including schools and school grounds, in the same manner as our provincial tobacco legislation, also prohibiting the sale of vaping products from places youth frequent, including amusement parks, arcades, and theatres. The amendments would also restrict advertising of vaping products in the same manner as tobacco products by prohibiting advertising signs and promotional signs in areas where young persons can enter.

The amendments will provide the ability to restrict the sale of flavoured tobacco and vapour products by regulation and expand the authority of tobacco enforcement officers to include enforcement of vapour/e-cigarette product restrictions.

The Government of Saskatchewan believes that the proposed amendments will help decrease the number of Saskatchewan youth accessing or using vaping products.

If passed, the amendments will come into effect next spring.

Read more from the Government of Saskatchewan on the proposed amendments, and find a Tip Sheet for Parents HERE.