Vape shop owner pleased with gov’t decision to raise vaping age

A Regina vape shop owner was pleased to hear the Saskatchewan government is raising the legal age for smoking and vaping from 18 to 19.

The Saskatchewan Party made the announcement during Wednesday’s throne speech.

Mike Smider, the owner of Queen City Vapes, called the announcement by the government a step in the right direction.

“Raising the age is good,” he said. “If we’re going to keep it out of high schools, then make it illegal for high school (students) to purchase it. I mean, (if) you’re 18, you’re still in high school.

“(With the change) you can’t get high schoolers purchasing this stuff, taking it back and selling it to their friends. It’s a step forward.”

Smider doesn’t think the decision will have any impact on his business as teens don’t make up a high percentage of his clientele.

“I’m pretty stringent with my ID (process). I get the odd 18-year-old coming in, but no high schoolers per se,” he explained. “In my store, the majority of my customer base is late 20s and up.

“I think raising the age is positive and it’ll be a deterrent,” he added.

Smider has been in the vaping business for a decade and explained the industry has come a long way.

“We were basically self-regulating our own industry (when the store opened). We followed tobacco law and wouldn’t sell to anyone under the age of 18,” Smider said.

“It has been a wild ride with all the government regulations put in place to oversee this industry and just the changes that have been made and where the industry has gone and progressed,” he added.

Premier Scott Moe said the decision to raise the age limit came about through continued lobbying from the Canadian Cancer Society. He also pointed to previous moves made by his government around the issue, including laws around flavoured vape products.

“These are the steps that have been recommended, not only by the Cancer Society but, I would say, a number of youth that have visited the (legislative) building as well and engage with not only our health ministers but other MLAs as well,” the premier said Wednesday before the throne speech was read in the Assembly.

It’s not known when exactly the law to raise the age limit will be put in place by the provincial government.