Canada’s largest tobacco company, Imperial Tobacco, sees new opportunities in the ever-expanding vaping market and wants a piece of it. Imperial Tobacco hopes proposed legislation to regulate vaping products will open a path for the company to enter the booming market while saying it wants to provide consumers with “less harmful” products.
“It's like why Coke has Diet Coke and water. If you think about it that way, there's no reason for Coke to sell water, there's no reason for McDonald's to sell salad. So why can't we sell a less harmful product?” - Eric Gagnon
Asked about the fact that the company would sell a product that was so antithetical to its core business, Eric Gagnon, a spokesman for Imperial Tobacco Canada, replied, “It’s like why Coke has Diet Coke and water. If you think about it that way, there’s no reason for Coke to sell water, there’s no reason for McDonald’s to sell salad. Why shouldn’t we be allowed to sell a less harmful product?”
Imperial Tobacco Canada sees regulation of e-cigarettes as a good opportunity
The Canadian federal government announced the introduction of amendments to its tobacco laws at the end of the month. Health Minister Jane Philpott said the aim of the amendments is to “balance the need to protect minors from nicotine and tobacco while allowing adults to legally access vaping products to help them quit smoking or as a less harmful alternative to cigarettes.”
“Balancing the need to protect minors from nicotine and tobacco while allowing adults to legally access vaping products to help them quit smoking or as a less harmful alternative to tobacco.” - Jane Philpott (Health Minister)
Currently, the sale of nicotine-containing e-cigarettes is illegal in Canada, although they are widely available in the country. Gagnon hopes that regulating the $235 billion industry will facilitate better communication with consumers, and that the government’s approval of smoking cessation products will ensure that vapers feel reassured about the product’s potential.
“That's why we invest so heavily in research and development of safer cigarettes and nicotine replacement products.” - David O'Reilly (BAT)
Big Tobacco’s UK affiliate, BAT, has jumped on the opportunity to invest in vaping products and has even conducted research into them. In addition to being the first to introduce them in the UK, it was also the first e-cigarette company to receive a medical license to sell smoking cessation products. The company’s chief scientific officer, David O’Reilly, acknowledged that the tobacco business has had a serious impact on public health, adding, “That’s why we invest so heavily in research and development of safer cigarettes and nicotine replacement products.”
A win-win situation for Big Tobacco
While the WHO reports that there are more than a billion smokers worldwide, Health Canada estimates that about 37,000 people die each year from tobacco-related diseases. As Gagnon puts it, BAT's O'Reilly says, “If the public sees us as part of the problem, then we should be part of the solution.”
Still, many health experts remain skeptical of Big Tobacco’s benign claims. “I think if they were interested in harm reduction, they should stop selling cigarettes,” said David Hammond, an associate professor of applied public health at the University of Waterloo. “I mean, they’re the company that has repeatedly sued the government to put health warnings on cigarette packs.”
This article was published on Vapingpost by Diane Caruana and translated by The Vape Club.
