A raft of e-cigarette regulations is being introduced to treat the trendy battery-powered vapourizers more like traditional smokes in B.C.
Under planned amendments to the province’s Tobacco Control Act, retailers will be banned from selling e-cigarettes to anyone under the age of 19, and users will be prohibited from puffing at schools and workplaces.
“Essentially the same conditions that now apply to tobacco will apply to e-cigarettes,” Health Minister Terry Lake said Thursday.
Though Canada doesn’t allow the sale of e-cigarettes that contain nicotine, health officials believe the vapourizers normalize smoking for youths, which they fear can still lead to cigarette addiction.
The precise health effects of e-cigarette vapour also remain a mystery.
“E-cigarettes are so unregulated we don’t know what’s in them,” Lake said. “So while adults can make their choices, we think young people need to be protected.”
The number of youths smoking e-cigarettes is on the rise, the minister added.
Under the new laws, which the province plans to introduce in April, e-cigarette use will be banned on public and private school grounds, indoor public spaces and workplaces, and on health authority properties.
Companies will also be barred from advertising the devices where minors can see it, and from setting up retail displays targeting youths.
Businesses will be given a grace period before they need to comply with the new rules once they’re in place.
Other provinces, including Ontario, Nova Scotia, and Manitoba, have already introduced laws restricting e-cigarette use and sales, as has the City of Vancouver, which banned selling to minors and smoking at restaurants or beaches last year.
