Health committee  Thank you for the question. I really don't understand why we're so bent over this. Would we rather have teens smoke cigarettes? When I was 13, the store was selling me cigarettes. I smoked for 13 years—

Health committee  That's a tough question—

Health committee  I believe there's sufficient evidence, but I believe that it's replacing smoking with a lesser-harm option; it's not quitting smoking. You're not essentially quitting. You're just replacing combustion with vaporization, and you're getting the health-related benefits of nicotine a

Health committee  Absolutely.

Health committee  Absolutely: it's the sensation from the e-cigarette. The thing is that the culture is so anti-smoking that, it just doesn't make any sense. If you were with us in the culture, in the day-to-day operations, you would clearly see that this does not renormalize smoking. Going ba

Health committee  I agree. When it comes to advertising, I think that if we're saying to stop smoking and start vaping because it's going to help you stop smoking, we're looking at a health claim. But if we simply say to stop smoking and start vaping, we're looking at an opinion. That's going to m

Health committee  No. There are 13 million ever-smokers in Canada. Those are former and current smokers combined.

Health committee  Are we discussing marijuana or nicotine?

Health committee  Thank you for the question. I don't really understand the question, because with nicotine vaping and marijuana, vaporization is an entirely different story.

Health committee  Is that for marijuana?

Health committee  Right. They are legalizing marijuana in many states and provinces.

Health committee  It is.

Health committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the committee, for this opportunity to express my views and the facts on e-cigarettes. It's an honour to be invited here for the first time by the committee and to have the opportunity to offer another perspective on vaping. I'm so proud of th