Editorial: Vaping taxes a sensible move

Article content

The provincial government is right to add new taxes on vaping.

But it should not simply rely on a price nudge to eliminate youth vaping – it must plow the proceeds of the new levy into enforcement efforts, to ensure a black market for vaping fluid doesn’t take further root in the province.

The new tax, unveiled in the budget, brings New Brunswick into closer alignment with the federal government and other provinces. Ottawa is already taxing vaping liquids, and offered to collect a similar amount and remit it to provinces. New Brunswick is opting into that agreement.

The tax recognizes the potentially damaging health impacts of vaping, which are becoming more clear with time. Vaping may still be pitched as a harm reduction effort for tobacco smokers. But uptake is not limited to those currently smoking cigarettes. It’s made major inroads in high schools, among youth who weren’t smokers. The long-term impacts of these new addictions are yet to be fully understood, but unlikely to be positive.

The current federal tax is structured in response to those demographics. It adds $1 per 2 millilitre of vaping fluid for the first 10mL, then $1 per 10mL after that. Effectively, it punishes smaller purchases more heavily – a measure intended to discourage vaping among youth, who may have limited cash to buy larger bottles of vaping fluid.

The new provincial tax will double the total, meaning a 30mL bottle of vape juice will be subject to $14 in vaping-specific taxes.

Economists and public health experts may debate the effectiveness of this intervention. But it follows the sensible logic of a price nudge.

And, we are encouraged by Finance Minister Ernie Steeves’s comments that the province is planning more enforcement efforts. They must follow through.