Cannabis vape products to hit Alberta store shelves

Cannabis vape products will be available for purchase in Alberta within the next few weeks.

The decision to allow the sale of cannabis vaping products came after an Alberta government review of the “available evidence, data and other provinces’ positions on cannabis vaping,” according to Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis.

Retailers in the province were notified directly on Friday, AGLC spokesperson Angelle Sasseville said in an email to Global News.

Retailers will be able to begin ordering products as early as this week, according to the AGLC, with products hitting store shelves in the next couple of weeks.

“There may be limited product from the onset but like all other products before vapes, inventory will increase in time,” Sasseville said in a statement.

“Retailers will have access to products first and then the online store will have product availability in the next couple of weeks.”

Tweet This

The sale of cannabis vaping products became legal in many parts of Canada in mid-December. At the time, the Alberta government said the products would not be available in the province until it completed its Tobacco and Smoking Reduction Act review.

Concerns have been raised about Health Canada’s decision to allow the sale of cannabis vape products. In December, doctors on the front lines of an epidemic of vaping-related illnesses in Canada and the U.S. questioned the move.

“I’m really surprised that Canada is taking this step with all the data that has come out this year with how dangerous this stuff is,” said Dr. Mangala Narasimhan, a pulmonologist and the head of the Acute Lung Injury Center at Northwell Health in New Hyde Park, N.Y.

“It really worries me because I think we should be heading in the opposite direction.”

As of Feb. 4 2020, 17 cases of vaping-related lung illness have been reported to the Public Health Agency of Canada, one of which was in Alberta. No deaths have been reported, according to Health Canada.

Cannabis vapes have so far been banned by two Canadian provinces. Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador have said they will not allow the sale of cannabis vapes, while Nova Scotia will not permit any flavoured cannabis vapes to be sold in that province.

With files from Emily Mertz and Heather Yourex-West, Global News.