Pubdate: Thu, 02 Oct 2014
Source: Metro (Vancouver, CN BC)
Copyright: 2014 Metro Canada
Contact:  http://www.metronews.ca/vancouver
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3775
Author: Emily Jackson
Page: 6

COUNCIL MULLS E-CIGARETTE BAN

Health.

Uncertainty Over Possible Effects on Marijuana Users Pushes Vote Back

Vancouver councillors are huffing and puffing over the proposal to 
ban e-cigarettes from wherever smoking is banned.

Council was scheduled to vote Wednesday on the prohibition of 
e-cigarettes, devices that vaporize a solution that is inhaled and 
exhaled like typical tobacco cigarettes, but it did not make a 
decision before press time.

The vote was delayed because council needed more information from 
staff about whether the ban would also apply to cannabis.

A staff report recommended that the ban apply to beaches, parks, 
patios and near buildings based on advice from Vancouver Coastal Health.

Medical health officer Dr. Meena Dawar presented a report stating the 
devices, which have been available in Canada for about five years, 
have no quality control, no labelling requirements and can be sold to 
anybody at any age.

"This laissez-faire attitude around these products is a major 
concern," Dawar said. "Essentially anything can end up in these products."

There is limited research on both the health risks of e-cigarettes 
and whether they encourage youth to start smoking. But it's also not 
proven whether they can help people quit smoking.

While the ban received widespread support from health organizations 
including the Canadian Cancer Society, the B.C. Lung Association, and 
the Heart and Stroke Foundation, marijuana advocates worried the ban 
might affect medical cannabis consumption.

The ban could affect dispensaries where people vaporize and hospitals 
that let patients vaporize indoors, argued Dana Larsen of the 
Sensible B.C. campaign.

It could also prevent the creation of a safe inhalation site for 
crack cocaine, Larsen said, pointing to a proposal that has been 
floating around the Downtown Eastside for a few years.

"That's probably not your intention," he said. "In general this city 
has a harm reduction philosophy - an e-cigarette is harm reduction 
over regular tobacco."

An online poll of more than 2,400 Metro readers found that 63 per 
cent oppose the ban.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom