Melfort Youth Evolution group members alongside Todd Goudy at the legislative building in Regina when the bill was passed to increase the minimum age requirement in Saskatchewan to 19 for the purchase of tobacco and vape products (Submitted Photo/Melfort Youth Evolution)

By Ben Tompkins

Trying to Help Others

Melfort Youth Group hoping to see vape flavours banned as next step following age limit increase

Nov 23, 2023 | 5:10 PM

Melfort Youth Evolution was recently a part of a big change that occurred when it came to the purchasing of tobacco and vape products in Saskatchewan.

The local group joined Youth 4 Change at a protest/rally back at the end of May in Regina, to speak with provincial politicians about what they thought needed to change when it came to vaping.

Melfort Youth Evolution was then recently back at the legislative building where they witnessed the passing of Bill 147 which raised the age limit to buy tobacco and vaping products to 19.

“It was so emotional, we were all in shock as to how fast the changes actually happened. We’re super excited to see the age raised to 19 because it doesn’t make sense to not have it match our drinking and cannabis age. I think it’s an accomplishment for all of us, and it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” members of the group told northeastNOW.

“I don’t think many kids in Melfort get to go to the legislature building and watch a bill get passed that they worked really hard on, it’s so cool to be able to show people what we did and tell them that anyone can do this. We can say we were a part of change and made it happen.”

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Despite this change, the group’s goal remains the same. They still want to ban all of the vape flavours as they feel they specifically target youth consumers.

“This is kind of just the start, we’re definitely trying to raise the age a lot more and I think our next step will either be raising the age or banning the vaping flavours. We want to ban flavours just because the majority of youth who started vaping and continued vaping are because of flavours,” the group added.

“Originally, if an adult wanted to quit smoking, it was originally marketed as just tobacco flavour. That can help them quit because it will be the same type of flavour and sensation as smoking. They’re not going to want cotton candy to help them quit smoking, that is 100 per cent targeted toward us, this isn’t just water vapour, this is chemicals you’re putting into your body, it’s not candy, it’s literally chemicals and it’s harmful.”

As far as the age change goes, they are hoping to push that number all the way up to 21, as according to them it’s scientifically proven that your brain is not fully developed until 24 or 25.

Melfort Youth Evolution said they will continue to do everything they can to affect change and will gladly attend more protests/rallies down in Regina in the future.

Currently, Saskatchewan has the highest prevalence of youth (Grade 7-12) smoking among Canadian provinces at 8.1 per cent, compared to 2.8 per cent of youth across the country.

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 15 per cent seven years ago.

Also, tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the world, taking the lives of 46,000 Canadians every single year. In Saskatchewan that equates to over 1,500 residents dying from tobacco-related disease annually.

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