WHITEHORSE — Yukon is raising the age that its residents are allowed to smoke or vape and is proposing further limits on how vaping products can be sold, used and promoted in the territory.
The Tobacco and Vaping Products Control and Regulation Act was introduced in Yukon’s legislature on Monday and would raise the age for access to tobacco and vapour products to from 18 to 19 years old.
The act focuses on protecting public health, especially that of youth, and directs how vapour products would be sold, used and promoted.
Yukon Health Minister Pauline Frost says the proposed legislation is part of the territory’s ongoing efforts to discourage the use of the addictive and harmful products.
The government says the changes arise out of a public survey conducted earlier this year on proposed amendments to the current Smoke-Free Places Act.
Vaping with e-cigarettes has been linked to a mysterious and sometimes fatal lung ailment that has affected over 1,000 users in the United States and a few people in Canada.