B.C. is seeking to make it easier to pursue vaping companies for "deceptive" marketing practices.
"The vaping industry has targeted young people in specific ways, and that includes not being fully transparent about the content of some of their materials and how addictive they are," Attorney General Niki Sharma said in a Wednesday press conference announcing new legislation making it easier for the government to sue.
Sharma said this bill will be similar to legislation that allowed the government to sue opioid and tobacco manufacturers for damages based on the costs of the public health impact.
"This is modelled after that legislation," Sharma said. "It gives us the tools to be able to launch a similar style of class action or join other lawsuits."
This legislation, if passed, would be the first of its kind to aim to hold vape companies accountable for public health impacts. It would still require the government to pursue specific lawsuits, and would not, on its own, take action against any company.
The government plans on introducing another piece of legislation that will similarly target manufacturers of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS or "forever chemicals."
"There's been some pretty significant lawsuits against them about how those chemicals have impacted, particularly firefighters," Sharma said.
That bill is expected to be introduced in the spring legislative session.
It is not clear if the vaping industry has deep enough pockets to pay the types of massive settlements seen from the opioid and tobacco industries. Sharma said that would factor into settlement discussions, if there are any. Some tobacco companies also make vaping products.
B.C. is set to receive $3.6 billion over 18 years as part of a recent $32.5 billion settlement against tobacco companies. Opioid litigation is still underway.
Rob Cunningham of the Canadian Cancer Society says there have been several settlements in the U.S. against the vape company Juul. There is also a proposed class action in the B.C. Supreme Court.
Cunningham warns that a new generation is getting hooked on nicotine through e-cigarettes.
"An important reason for that is the various marketing strategies that have reached them," he said.
Meanwhile, the long-term health impacts are still unknown.
"It took decades for the evidence with respect to smoking and health to be developed," Cunningham said. "And the same is also true for vaping products."
He reckons it will be 25 years before the complete picture is known.
Cunningham is hopeful that if this bill passes, it will at least alter companies' behaviour.
In addition to these efforts, the government has several anti-vaping educational campaigns underway. Cunningham would also like the government to increase the minimum age to buy vaping products to 21, and to introduce rules that bar the sale of flavoured products.
