Minister Mark Holland and the Trudeau government have chosen to ignore law-abiding retailers, in favour of organized criminals who are willing to sell nicotine products to young people.

Limiting the sale of nicotine pouches exclusively to pharmacies reduces access to cessation products and does nothing to curb the supply of unregulated products readily available online, to anyone looking to buy. It also ignores the wishes of pharmacists, provinces and territories who have expressed concern over the increased workload they will face with this measure.

Convenience stores will continue to act as responsible retailers of age-restricted products and are calling on the federal government to reverse this decision.