Sudbury health unit wants action on e-cigarette regulation
The Sudbury District Health Unit says it wants the Ontario government to get tougher on e-cigarettes.
An e-cigarette is a vapour-based device that mimics a cigarette.
Toronto's board of health said in a recent report that it would consider banning e-cigarettes in all places in Toronto where smoking is prohibited.
Youth are very interested in this product.- Sudbury public health nurse Francine Brunet-Fechner.
Sudbury public health nurse Francine Brunet-Fechner said the health unit wants to give the province more time before it would consider pushing the city to consider its own bylaw on e-cigarettes.
“At this point it's a little premature,” she said.
“I think we've put our support towards a provincial change. And at that point I think we have to be a little patient and provide the existing ministry the opportunity to move forward to make that change happen."
Brunet-Fechner noted there is not enough research on whether or not there are negative effects of e-cigarettes.
E-cigarettes are battery powered and look and act like cigarettes. They can contain nicotine.
They are being marketed to young people using bright coloured packaging and candy-like flavours, Brunet-Fechner said.
"Youth are very interested in this product and, even though they're non-smokers, they might be enticed to then normalize the behaviour of smoking,” she said.
“And [that can] get them hooked on nicotine, which then gets them hooked on use of other cigarettes or other tobacco products."
And that’s one reason why Brunet-Fechner said the Smoke-free Ontario Act should be regulating e-cigarettes like any other tobacco product.