Canada: Ontario delays ban on vaping in public spaces

A bill that is being proposed by Ontario’s Health Ministry would regulate vaping in the same way as smoking, hence placing restrictions on where vapers can use their devices and also on how the products can be marketed and sold. E-cigarette retailers fear that the proposed regulation would prohibit their staff from showing their customers how the products work and not allow their customers to try samples of e-liquids.

Customers need employees to “walk them through how to use the product,” said Maria Papaioannoy, a co-owner of vape shops Ecig Flavorium. “No one expects to go buy technology without an opportunity to get educated on how to use it,” she added during a news conference at the Ontario Legislature last week.

Adding another a barrier against smokers wanting to switch

This legislation puts “really huge barriers in the way of the majority of smokers who say they want to quit.”
Renowned public health expert and chair of the advisory committee of the University of Ottawa’s Centre for Health Law, Policy and Ethics, David Sweanor, said that this bill would work against the interests of public health. This legislation puts “really huge barriers in the way of the majority of smokers who say they want to quit,” he said, adding, “We shouldn’t be doing that for a product that is killing so many people,” said Sweanor. “We need to offer [smokers] something that reduces the risk.”

 

Sweanor has been striving to develop tobacco-control laws in Canada and around the world for the last 30 years, and has received the prestigious Ottawa’s Outstanding Individual Philanthropist award in 2016. In an article he wrote on Troy Media last August, the professor said that sadly many smokers have been facing significant obstacles by the authorities just to be able to obtain and use safer alternatives such as electronic cigarettes and smokeless tobacco.

“Canadian regulation has not only failed to adapt to and facilitate the transition to these massively lower-risk products, but hampered their development, marketing and accessibility. Smoke-free products could not only dramatically reduce the disease burden but could facilitate total nicotine abstinence for those who wish it.”David Sweanor, Professor at the Faculty of Law and the Centre for Health Law Policy and Ethics, University of Ottawa

“Canadian regulation has not only failed to adapt to and facilitate the transition to these massively lower-risk products, but hampered their development, marketing and accessibility. Smoke-free products could not only dramatically reduce the disease burden but could facilitate total nicotine abstinence for those who wish it,” pointed out Sweanor at the time.

Read Further: CBC

Cigarette use steadily declining in Canada, yet ‘no-smoking efforts’ persist

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Cynthia Beck
Cynthia Beck
6 years ago

For a government that seems to understand harm reduction on sexuality , illicit drugs, school buses, and so many other topics, why are they trying to prevent it for cigarette smokers?

Ashutosh Jha
Ashutosh Jha
6 years ago

I switched to vaping some 4.5 years ago and recently quit vaping. It was super easy. “Carrot” DOES WORK vs free nicotine therapy programs.

melawyth
melawyth
6 years ago

I quit smoking instantly over 3 1/2 years ago, when I got my first vape. My health has improved tremendously. Politicians should stop concentrating on every possible negative aspect and feverishly searching for negative studies (often reading only the headlines of articles and brandishing them triumphantly!) Their focus should be on the health and psychological benefits that vaping can give and on encouraging smokers to switch to a much less harmful alternative. I’m becoming weary of battling the several layers of government in a struggle to protect my own well-being and that of others.

Luke Marshall
Luke Marshall
6 years ago

Vaping Has filled a need in the a faultered harm reduction strategy. SImply put Vaping is here and it’ has brought with it a full fuilment of every condition to that could be asked for when you consider what a perfect solution to the anti smoking might be.
1 IT has numerous options to appeal to a broad range of preferences
2. has many flavors to keep taste bud interested and to appeal to all types of tastes.
3, Provides economic contribution in the way of new jobs businesses and sales tax dollars
4. is over 95% less harmful then Tobacco
5. Provides a niches market of specialty stores where people looking to quit can find support and get ideas & help
6. Does not lead to the use of tobacco (it wouldnt be much of a solution if it did)
7. allows users to scale down the nicotine amounts as time goes on till they are able to reach 0 nic
8. Costs to current government to implement ? = $0.00
vaping is the only solution that has made the possibility to quit happen for every smoker.
the only place to go from here is backwards due to a lakj of information and support from government.

Eben Haezer
Eben Haezer
6 years ago

Vaping has worked significantly better to curb smoking. It doesn’t make sense to me why the govt is trying to make it harder.

Ideally the world will be better off without nicotine addiction, and perhaps it is what the government is aiming. However to get there we have to do it step by step. Vaping is that next step. It is proven to help people wean off nicotine little by little.

Sean Brady
Sean Brady
6 years ago

I smoked heavily for 20 years, and failed to quit on numerous occasions. 2 years ago I purchased a vape kit similar to one I had tried with a friend, and I had my last cigarette 2 days later. Within 1 week I noticed my sense of taste returning. Within 2 weeks I was no longer hacking up a phlegm ball during my morning shower. Within a month running up a few flights of stairs didn’t have my heart racing for 10 minutes, and I no longer felt like I may faint when standing up “too fast”.
I’ve used minimal nicotine since day 1. I mostly just wanted and needed to replace the habit with something less harmful and disgusting. I continue to vape now because I enjoy the flavors, much like I enjoy candy – only now I barely eat that too, having the flavor satisfaction elsewhere. So, I’ve cut way down on sugar too. No way I’d of done that with only flavorless or tobacco flavor liquids. No way I’d use those period.
Vaping has changed many aspects of my life for the better. I’m physically and mentally healthier, more social and active, and all around happier. I’m aware kicking all of my habits would be the healthiest choice, but this is the happiest one for me.