Canadian Government Finalizes Ban on Menthol in Tobacco Products

Source from:  KelownaNow 04/07/2017

　　In the past year, 115,000 Canadians started smoking daily, something the Government of Canada is working to change by making tobacco products taste worse.

　　Health Canada announced Wednesday that they have finalized an amendment to the Tobacco Act to ban the use of menthol in cigarettes, blunt wraps and most cigars sold on the Canadian market.

　　Menthol is an additive used by manufacturers to make tobacco products taste better. The ban would apply to 95% of the tobacco market in Canada.

　　According to a recent Canadian student survey, nearly half of students who said they smoked cigarettes in the past month reported smoking menthol cigarettes.

　　The proposed amendments comes after they banned flavours like chocolate and bubble gum (in 2009 and 2015), in all cigarettes, blunt wraps and cigars to make them less attractive to young people.

　　Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of disease and premature death in Canada, killing half of all long-term smokers. Every 14 minutes, a Canadian dies from a smoking-related illness, totalling 37,000 Canadians per year. Enditem