Looking to kick the habit? Islanders have options to quit smoking and vaping

Prince Edward Island’s deputy chief public health officer says smoking cessation rates in the province are starting to plateau, and he wants Islanders to know they have options when it comes to kicking the habit.

Dr. David Sabapathy said surveys conducted by the Chief Public Health Office show average tobacco use among Islanders is about 11 per cent, slightly higher than the national average.

Tobacco use in the province continues to decline, he said, but those decreases get smaller each year.

“We're getting to that point now where the numbers, depending on the sample size, are roughly the same every year,” he said. 

“Sometimes they go down and up, and it's getting a little hard to measure it at this point.”

P.E.I.’s Smoking Cessation Program got its start in December 2019, and offers free nicotine replacement therapy to any resident.

It provides up to 18 weeks of therapy to help quit smoking or vaping. Cessation medications are also available, but Sabapathy said only about a quarter of those who enrol in the program use those.

Not surprisingly, January is the peak enrolment period for the program as more people look to quit as part of new year's resolutions.

In 2025, the program saw its highest enrolment since it began, with more than 2,000 Islanders. Sabapathy said more than 9,000 people have used the program since its inception. 

The prevalence of vaping over the last number of years has brought new challenges. Sabapathy said it's not clear at the moment whether the habit is better than cigarettes, but he said vaping cessation is also among the services offered by the provincial program. 

Youth aren’t spared from the habit, he said. A COMPASS survey found about 30 per cent of Grade 12 students in the province had used an e-cigarette or vaping product in the previous month.

“[Vaping] certainly has helped some people quit tobacco use, which is great, but it hasn't been used in a program sense to help people quit," Sabapathy said.

"We still use the things that are proven, such as the nicotine gum or the patch. We know those things work for sure for an entire population.”

He said the CPHO is looking for ways to expand the cessation program.