Better enforcement needed to stop teens from vaping, says Sudbury, Ont. vape shop owner

The co-owner of a Sudbury, Ont. vape shop says better enforcement is needed to keep e-cigarettes out of the hands of teens, as opposed to stricter laws.

"Our governments tend to regulate all of our products. Health Canada tries to push these agendas," said Robert Arsenault, co-owner of the eCloudz Specialty Vape Shop.

"Vaping is not for kids. But where's the enforcement?"

Places that are unregulated are most likely the places where they're getting it.- Robert Arsenault, co-owner, eCloludz vape shop

In Ontario it's illegal for anyone under the age of 19 to purchase e-cigarettes.

And yet a recent study from researchers at Western University and Brescia University College found that 26 per cent of teens in Canada reported vaping at least once in the previous month.

Arseneault said his employees ask anyone who looks younger than 25 to show a piece of ID before they can purchase his products.

But he said not all vape shops are as thorough.

"Places that are unregulated are most likely the places where they're getting it," he said.

Teens are also getting e-cigarettes from older people who buy them legitimately, Arsenault added.

Online shops are also an avenue for underage people to buy the products, but Arsenault said delivery companies are supposed to ask for a piece of ID before they hand off the package.

Push for stricter laws

Nickel Belt MPP France Gélinas has introduced Bill 85, Vaping is not for Kids, which would increase Ontario's minimum age for vaping from 19 to 21, and would also follow Quebec's lead and ban e-liquid flavours other than tobacco.

Many e-cigarettes contain nicotine, and Gélinas said one of her concerns is that a new generation of young people are getting addicted to it.

"We know from tobacco that nicotine is highly addictive," Gélinas told CBC's Up North.

"For a young person it could be they try it once and they're hooked on nicotine."

Harmful chemicals

Health Canada says more research is needed on the long-term health effects of vaping.

The vapour from e-cigarettes can contain potentially harmful chemicals, especially when the device is heated at a higher temperature. But Health Canada also notes "the levels found in vaping aerosol are significantly lower than those found in cigarette smoke."

A number of organizations including the Canadian Lung Association, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada and the Ontario Public Health Association support Gélinas' private member's bill.

Sylvie Patenaude-Renaud, a public health nurse with Public Health Sudbury and Districts, said surveys have found that e-cigarette flavours like cotton candy and blue raspberry are appealing to young people.

"Several reports say that that's the most influential factor in a youth's decision to start vaping," she said.

Patenaude-Renaud said e-cigarettes can be used as a smoking cessation tool, but does not recommend non-smokers pick up the habit.

"We're also seeing that in some individuals, namely youth who vape, that can also make it more likely for them to become tobacco smokers down the line because of the addiction to nicotine," she said.

However, Health Canada says there is limited evidence that vaping leads to an increased risk of becoming a smoker.

"Recent data suggests that, thus far, smoking rates, for both youth and adults, continue to decline and are at an all-time low," Health Canada says on its web page on the risks of vaping.

On Gelinas' proposed restrictions on e-cigarette flavours other than tobacco, Arsenault said many of his customers like the sweeter flavours because it differentiates his products from cigarettes.

"It's very important to have flavours for people to help quit smoking, otherwise it's not going to be as effective as it could be," he said.

As for stricter age limits, Arsenault said vaping is less harmful than cigarettes. He said it would not make sense to have stricter limits on a less dangerous product.

"Imagine I tell you that, you know, you turn 19 years old and you can have access to a cigarette instead of vaping," he said.