Minister Holland expresses anger over the marketing of Zonnic.
Parliament was not sitting last week, when health groups called on Minister of Health Mark Holland to suspend the sale of Zonnic, the nicotine pouch authorized by his department this summer as a smoking-cessation aid.
With the House back in session, journalists were able to question the Minister about his response. The full scrum is available on CPAC (starting at 54:32) -- with some highlights from Minister Holland's comments pasted below.
Well, first of all, I am appalled by the actions of the tobacco industry. Yet again they have tried to seek a loophole to find a new way to peddle nicotine.
It is very clear in my view that there are very serious questions about what the tobacco industry is doing here and what their intention is. It would seem that their intention is to addict new young people to nicotine - which is disgusting. I think that we have to take this seriously and are.
I'm mad. I think it is wholly inappropriate. I am frustrated that yet once again we have to go back and adjust our regulations because the tobacco industry has found some Machiavellian clever way to skirt regulation and try to addict new people.
We are looking at what actions we can take and to take those actions quickly. We want to shut down this loophole.
We are going to have to review our processes. I don't want anything going out there that is going to target new users and particularly young people. We are going to have to take a rigorous look at our processes.
The way that this [product] was presented was that it was for the purposes of cessation. We were duped.
The true intent appears to have been concealed. Obviously if we knew their intention, we would never have allowed the product.
The fact that we could have allowed this to get across the line and not seen this eventuality and not seen what they are going to do, I am deeply apologetic for. I do not want this out in the world and we are going to do everything we can to remediate it.
Selected global developments
Australia
New Zealand
Two years ago (December 9, 2021), the New Zealand Health Minister announced a suite of pioneering measures aimed at ending the harm caused by tobacco, Among the measures later detailed in a consultation paper and legislation was banning the sale of tobacco to anyone born after January 2009, a 90% reduction in the number of tobacco retailers (from 6000 to 600) the allowable amount of nicotine in combustible tobacco (scheduled for April 2025).
Six weeks ago an election resulted in a change of government in New Zealand. At the beginning of this week a new coalition government was sworn in. During media interviews, the new prime minister announced the intention to repeal these new measures. The reasons cited included workability of restricting sales to middle-aged people and concerns of a loss of tax revenues if retail restrictions fuelled an illicit market.
England and Wales
During the opening of the British Parliament on , the King's Speech included the government's intention to introduce a law to ban the sale of tobacco products to anyone in England or Wales born after January 1, 2029. If this law is passed (and the New Zealand government rescinds its measure), England and Wales will be the first jurisdictions to implement the smoke-free generation law.
France
This week the government of France announced a new four-year tobacco control plan. Among the specific measures announced in the plan are to:
* ban disposable vaping products
* implement plain packaging for vaping products (already in place for tobacco)
* expand smoke-free areas (including beaches and parks)
* increase the price of a package of cigarettes to 13 euros ($19) by 2027
* strengthen and systematize smoking-cessation treatments
* establish a roadmap to regulate new forms of nicotine, such as nicotine pouches
Denmark
In mid-November, an all-party health agreement was made public for a Danish plan to Reduce Children's and Young People's Consumption of Alcohol, Nicotine Products and Tobacco. New enforcement measures include strengthening border controls and on line age-verification systems. The agreement also includes measures to make tobacco and tobacco substitutes (vaping, pouches) less attractive by banning some flavourings, restricting some ingredients and requiring standardized packaging and appearance.
Ireland
