SQDC | Cannabis vaping products on the shelves

Within a year, customers of the Société québécoise du cannabis (SQDC) will be able to obtain vaping products, in branch and online. After refraining from selling them following the recommendations of the Public Health Department issued five years ago, the state company finally decided to jump into the arena in order to meet demand and offer safer products than those sold illegally.

A call for products was launched Thursday to find suppliers capable of developing a device and cartridges meeting the criteria of the SQDC, confirmed to The Press its public affairs advisor and spokesperson, Chu Anh Pham. For its other products, it currently does business with 53 suppliers. We will also take the next few months to train employees so that they are well equipped to advise customers on this new addition to the store.

Aware of the recent decision, the D^r Luc Boileau, Quebec’s national director of public health, says he was not opposed to it, but he said he was “concerned.”

Forget flavors, aromas and flashy packaging. The SQDC does not want to market a vaping product likely to attract young people. Nearly “73% of 15-17 year olds and 55% of 18-20 year olds who have used cannabis in the last year have used this method”, according to theQuebec cannabis survey 2023conducted by the Institute of Statistics of Quebec.

It is impossible at this time to know what the retail price of vaping products sold in branches will be. And the state-owned company says it has not set sales targets for the moment. “In other provinces where they are sold legally, vaping products can represent between 15% and 18% of sales,” says Chu Anh Pham.

Currently, only Quebec and Prince Edward Island do not sell them. It has been legal to sell in Canada since 2019.

“A phenomenon that has grown”

Why has the SQDC changed its mind when the Public Health Department has not changed its recommendations? “The reason why we decided to begin a process of marketing cannabis vaping products is because this mode of consumption is a phenomenon that has grown,” explains M.^me Pham. With what we find on the illegal market, we decided to act according to our mission, that is to say, to offer products with lower risks in order to protect public health,” she says. adding at the same time that the products offered on the illicit market are “dangerous”.

“For vaping products, we will respect all current standards [appliquées aux autres] cannabis products, that is to say a THC level that does not exceed 30%, packaging that is not attractive to young people, there will be no flavor or aroma, contrary to what found on the illegal market, she adds. All this ensures that our products are lower risk. This is what sets us apart. »

“In recent years, there have been several studies showing that vaping is growing among young people,” she admits.

But she adds that there have been no conclusive studies showing that consuming cannabis by vaping was more harmful than taking it in another way. “In the absence of a conclusive study, we decided to move forward. It is an initiative of the SQDC with the aim of countering the illegal market and the dangerous products sold there. »

The Public Health Department informed

Before making its decision, the SQDC, in particular its president and CEO, Suzanne Bergeron, met with representatives of the Public Health Department as well as police authorities to obtain their opinions.

Information confirmed by the D^r Boileau. “Yes, we had to watch that. We were asked for our opinion,” he said on the phone.

Did he oppose the decision? “We didn’t say we were against it. We said we were concerned. » For the moment, it is not “completely clear from a scientific point of view that vaping cannabis is more harmful than other modes of consumption”, he indicates.

Now that the decision is made, the D^r Boileau reminds us that it is important to “establish the parameters” ensuring that the product sold is safe, while avoiding promoting it.

Regarding the attraction of young people to vaping, M^me Pham, for his part, assures that this is one of the main concerns. “But this is not a clientele that we primarily serve,” she said, recalling that only people aged 21 and over can purchase products in branches and online.

“Probably there is awareness and prevention work to be done, but that is really not our target audience. »

“Not a candy store”

This shift towards vaping will not, however, open the door to the sale of jujubes or chocolate in the state company’s stores.

“We don’t want to turn into a candy store,” says Chu Anh Pham bluntly. We do not want to trivialize cannabis, it remains a drug. »

Edible products represent approximately 3% of SQDC sales. Aside from crackers, dried apricots and sausages, among others, we have also already put poutine sauce and ramen soups on sale. However, these products had little success and were removed from the shelves.