dailynewsnblog
The province is the clearest example of why flavour bans do not eliminate demand; they feed it. In 2023, as Quebec moved to ban flavoured vaping products, Concordia University economist Dr. Ian Irvine warned that such restrictions could push consumers toward the illicit market. Three years later, the Sûreté du Québec seized more than 300,000 illegal vaping products and froze $1.8 million in bank accounts in a major smuggling investigation, showcasing how restrictive policies push consumer demand into organized criminal networks. The pattern points to an illicit nicotine trade operating at a scale far beyond what border enforcement alone can contain, and the CVA says the cause is no mystery.
