Regina Leader Post Staff
This change brings alcohol, marijuana and now all tobacco and vapour products in alignment at the same minimum age for purchase.
As of Feb. 1, the legal minimum age to buy tobacco products in Saskatchewan will officially rise from 18 to 19 as per legislation passed back in October.
This change brings alcohol, marijuana and now all tobacco and vapour products in alignment at the same minimum age for purchase.
Retailers will have to update their signage and will be responsible for enforcing the new rules at the start of next month, according to a news release issued but the Government of Saskatchewan on Thursday. The Ministry of Health will mail new “till stickers” out to tobacco and vapour retailers this month. And if sellers want more they can get additional stickers from “their local public health office or by downloading and colour-printing the signage” from the ministry’s website.
The change is a way to protect youth from the dangers of these products, said Minister of Health Everett Hindley in the release.
“These products have no place in Saskatchewan schools and I’m pleased that MLAs on both sides of the house voted unanimously to take the necessary steps to protect students from being exposed to these products,” he said.
Leading up to the Tobacco and Vapour Products Control Amendment Act, 2023, also called Bill 147, the government consulted external stakeholders, including tobacco and vapour product retailers, tobacco and vapour product manufacturers, health advocacy organizations and First Nations and Métis groups.
Speaking to the Leader-Post back in November, a senior policy analyst with the Canadian Cancer Society said the overwhelming majority of smokers start underage. Similarly, youth vaping rates in the province have seen a dramatic increase, with 35 per cent of students in Grades 10 to 12 vaping in the 2021-22 school year, compared with 13 per cent seven years ago.— with files from Trillian Reynoldson
