In 2019 the court had amongst other things invalidated a section of the provincial law prohibiting advertising vaping products as smoking cessation tools. Justice Daniel Dumais had suspended his ruling for six months in order to allow lawmakers to rewrite the problematic sections of the province’s tobacco law and make them valid.
However, earlier this month, the court upheld the province’s right to subject vaping products to the same laws governing tobacco. In a unanimous decision, the panel of three Court of Appeals judges reversed the parts of a 2019 lower court decision that struck down some provisions of the Tobacco Control Act.
New ruling disagreed with 2019 decision to allow vape adverts
The appeals court judges disagreed with 2019 ruling, saying that the Quebec government had the right to limit the potential effect of e-cig advertising. Naturally, in their decision, the judges cited research from the World Health Organization and other experts expressing concern over rising youth vaping rates, and they questioned whether it was possible to target ads at smokers only, without influencing others.
“In this case, it was therefore reasonable for the legislator to intervene to limit the potential effect of electronic cigarette advertising, especially on young people,” Justice Benoit Moore wrote on behalf of the panel.
The Court of Appeals said it is aware that some health entities believe that vaping products are less harmful than traditional cigarettes. However, the added, experts are divided on whether they’re an effective way to quit smoking.
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