Vancouver looks at regulation of e-cigarettes

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      Staff from the City of Vancouver and Vancouver Coastal Health are recommending that e-cigarettes be regulated, including a ban on smoking the devices in the same places that tobacco smoking is prohibited.

      A report scheduled to go before Vancouver city council on Tuesday (September 30) outlines a series of proposed amendments to the city’s Health By-Law and License By-Law, including signs banning e-cigarettes in a business or near building entrances, and a ban on the display or sale of e-cigarettes to minors.

      “Because e-cigarettes are a relatively new product, data on the health risks of inhaling secondhand e-cigarette vapour is limited,” the report reads.

      “What is known is that e-cigarettes emit ‘vapour’ to which bystanders are exposed. This vapour may contain ingredients that raise health concerns: propylene glycol, artificial flavours (known to be cytotoxic), volatile organic compounds, heavy metals, and particulates. Many of these compounds are present in lower levels than noted in cigarette smoke; however, some heavy metals are higher in concentration.”

      The report also cites concerns around the potential effects of e-cigarettes on youth.

      “Many youth are averse to traditional smoking, likely due to parental modelling and social marketing campaigns about the risks,” the document reads. “However, there is growing concern that some youth will see e-cigarettes as a safe alternative to traditional cigarettes.”

      City staff are recommending that new signage requirements for businesses be introduced gradually, with the regulation coming into force for all businesses on September 30, 2016.

      Three other cities in Canada already have an e-cigarette ban in place: Red Deer, Alberta; Innisfil, Ontario; and Hantsport, Nova Scotia. Quebec and Toronto are also considering regulating the product.

      Comments

      8 Comments

      James MacGregor

      Sep 25, 2014 at 10:38am

      Hi,
      This is so based on ignorance of the vaping experience...I have smoked for 58 years, have emphasyma...started vaping in JUne this year haven't had near the coughing,I used to have don't smell like an ashtray...breath a little better ...etc. etc.
      Have tried the patch,zyban, zyban and the patch, nicorette hum...none worked as good as e-cigarettes or vaping.. I smoked for 58 years!!!
      Jim

      tyler pothecary

      Sep 25, 2014 at 2:59pm

      By all scientific logic this should mean a review of all vehicle emissions as well

      Thing$ never change.

      Sep 25, 2014 at 10:21pm

      The claim that heavy metals are in North American e-cigarettes has already been discredited, and can be traced back to a single study done on Chinese e-liquid that they use to claim that all juice is of the same quality. Like always, if you want to find out who is behind all of the info manipulation... follow the money.

      Big pharma's cut of cessation money, big tobacco, how about the gov'ts cut too from the taxes? The powers that be are using their usual playbook when they aren't getting what they want. "We don't know what it is!" "Think of the children!"

      Don't let them fool you, folks.

      A different perspective

      Sep 26, 2014 at 10:00am

      Dear Tobacco & E-cigarette users,
      This is about limiting access of a controlled drug to citizens who consciously make the decision to buy it.
      Put simply, we regulate access and exposure to drugs based on society's acceptance of the behavior. You don't like seeing drunk & disorderly on the streets, so we curb drinking in public.
      We don't appreciate second hand smoke (in any format) so we restrict the convenience of being able to light up in public spaces.
      As a nation, Canadian's are tolerant and accommodating so long as you're not harming any one else.
      Please be compassionate towards the health of others, just as they are compassionate towards your long term health costs on our public health care system.
      Sincerely yours,
      A Different Perspective

      Paul Beauregard

      Sep 26, 2014 at 7:28pm

      Letter for Vendors

      Across Canada municipalities and other jurisdictions are considering banning e-cigarettes. Is this the best thing to do to protect the public? What are the issues, the concerns, and what does the research so far tell us about e-cigarettes.

      Overall the argument has been that we do not know enough about e-cigarettes and the best thing to do is to ban them just in case. Recently Red Deer banned e-cigarettes and in the words of Deputy Mayor Lynne Mulder a ban is reasonable “because we don't know whether it's safe or not safe, we have selected to ban it anyway."

      Is it reasonable?

      There is no shortage of evidence regarding the nature of e-cigarettes or of the people who are using them. Following are the five major points made by those supporting bans and then a summary of the evidence regarding those points

      Just like 2nd hand smoke, 2nd hand vapour is harmful to others. We don’t know what is in that vapour and until we do we should not be exposed to it.

      We do know what is in the vapour.

      In the last two years both the journals Biomedcentral Public Health1 and Nicotine and Tobacco Research2 have published studies concluding that there is no harm in being exposed to second-hand vapor.

      Second-hand vapor has nothing in common with second hand smoke.  It has none of the toxins that result from burning tobacco.  It is indistinguishable from what comes out of an approved and recommended pharmaceutical nicotine inhaler3. The nicotine and the trace elements found in second-hand vaper are not only a fraction of that found in cigarette smoke but fall far below Canadian federal safety guidelines. There is no danger to anyone from exposure to second-hand vapor.

      It is common to state findings of various toxic elements in the liquids used in e-cigarettes but what is too often not stated is that these occur at levels far below what could harm anyone (just like arsenic levels in fruit, vegetables, game and fish4).

      Claiming that we cannot know what is in 2nd hand vapor or that we cannot know if it is safe or not is clear only true if you ignore the science. There is no health evidence in support of banning vaping in public places.

      “The last thing we need to do from a public health perspective is have a product like e-cigarettes renormalize smoking behaviours.” - Dr. Robert Strang

      Vaping does not allow people to get around smoking bans for the s

      Mouse

      Sep 30, 2014 at 9:47pm

      This is just like our government, who the hell votes these people into office? I have been smoking since the age of 9. 27 years in total, 1-3 packs a day. I /know/ what is in my ejuice, because I make it myself. I also know what are in cigarettes, do you? 3 chemicals are in my ejuice. Three. Nicotine. PG. VG. I don't have people fanning me away because of my vaping; quite the contrary. I live in the DTES an area riddled with it's issues and everytime someone sees me having a vape, they all ask the same thing, "Did it help you quit smoking?" Yes, it did. I have been analog free for a year. I did the gum, the patch, the inhaler, the lozenges, etc. None of that worked. Vaping has given me a new lease on life, and more money in my pocket. Money is a big factor seeing as we don't receive enough on PWD to live on, we merely survive. Vaping has opened doors for me that were closed before. I have ASD and vaping has brought me to a group of people that don't judge, they're just doing their thing and loving it. Vaping is not new, people have been doing it since 1994. Get your facts straight before you go condemning the one good thing going for those addicted to nicotine; vaping. Your "what about the children" argument is moot. I for one do not care about the children; unlike the able bodied, $250,000 tax expemt individuals in this city; I can't afford to have a family, or get married or actually LIVE. So, shove that argument up your collective arses. Vaping is a cost effective approach to smoke cessation, and you look far cooler doing it. This is not the "gateway" to smoking, quite the opposite. If your child is such a brain trust that it buys a ciganot instead of cigarettes, you have bigger things to worry about; much bigger than my vaping Vanilla custard while dodging addicts and alcoholics in the DTES or the blissfully ignorant on Robson. Your argument is dead in the water. We know better than the government and have done so for a very long time. Perhaps if our government actually listened once in a while, we would actually get somewhere.

      Mike Murphy

      Nov 1, 2014 at 7:51am

      I quit smoking a year and a half ago with my e-cigarette, and I’m not going to stand for the provinces position on e-cigarettes, and the banning of flavored e-liquids.

      Science doesn’t support Nova Scotia’s contention that e-cigarettes are tobacco products. Numerous reputable studies have concluded,
      again (a href=”http://publichealth.drexel.edu/~/media/files/publichealth/ms08.pdf)
      and again (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23033998),
      that e-cigarettes propel no harmful vapors to others, and very little to the user – especially when compared to environmental toxins like auto exhaust, or cigarette smoke.

      Vapor is not smoke.

      Competent health boards around the world realize regulating e-cigarettes as tobacco products is a big mistake. Literally millions of lives could be saved through the use of these devices. Nicotine by itself, without the chemicals included in cigarettes, is relatively harmless. It is addictive yes – and so is caffeine.

      When can we expect the province’s ban on flavored caffeine products? When will the province ban flavored alcohol? When will the province ban flavored nicotine gum? Wouldn’t want to anger the pharmaceutical companies.

      Reasonable people will accept a tax, and no one wants children to be using e-cigarettes. The unconscionable side of the legislation is in relation to flavorings.

      It is clear that Dr. Strang knows little about e-cigarettes and cares little about the health of the population. He does exert a great influence to government as chief pharmaceutical industry stooge, however. This bill 60 is a perversion of health policy, and the Liberals should be ashamed they take the financial health of nicotine gum manufacturers above the health of their citizens.

      I’m not back to cigarettes and Nova Scotia’s actions on this file are an outrage!