Emily Lapointe, Centretown News
New bylaws make it difficult for e-cig users to smoke in public places. City council carried a motion at its meeting on Nov. 25 to introduce new bylaws that regulate the smoking of non-tobacco combustible substances and electronic cigarettes in public and work places. This also includes the smoking of herbal products in water pipes.
In 2012, the City of Ottawa amended the smoke-free public places bylaw and the workplace bylaw to regulate public smoking in order to decrease the exposure of second-hand smoke.
Because there is currently no regulation for non-tobacco combustible substances in public places there have been issues with enforcement and consistency.
Ottawa Coun. Mathieu Fleury seconded the motion foramending the smoking bylaw and says that governments need to continue to take a strong stance against second-hand smoke.
“What we want as a municipality is clarity,” says Fleury, adding, “we know the impacts of second-hand smoking on people’s health and now with the arrival of e-cigarettes we need a policy that applies to all the elements.”
Fleury says with the introduction of new technologies such as e-cigarettes and vaporizers there is a lot of excitement but the discussions between health professionals about the negative effects are still ongoing.
An electronic cigarette is a battery-powered vaporizer that does not burn tobacco but simulates the feel of smoking.
The battery activates a heating device that atomizes liquid nicotine inside the e-cig and then produces a vapour that is inhaled.
Another popular technology is a vaporizer, which is used to directly vaporize ingredients of plant material such as cannabis,
tobacco or other herbs for inhalation.
Steve Moreau is the CEO of e-Steam and oversees more than 18 stores across Ontario that specialize in selling electronic cigarettes and paraphernalia.
One of the e-Steam locations is at 130 Albert St. in Centretown. Moreau says there is a misunderstanding when it comes to vaporizers and e-cigarettes because a lot of people still think that e-cigarettes are like real ones.
“You have baby products that have the same ingredients,” he says, referring to some of the chemical products that are in electronic cigarettes. “The only difference is that the electronic cigarette has nicotine in it.”
He does not think there are any harmful second-hand smoke effects and says people should think of it like a cup of coffee.
“A cigarette is more like a campfire and a vape is more like the steam off a coffee,” Moreau says, suggesting smoke from a campfire can be damaging whereas the steam from a cup of coffee is essentially harmless.
However, the proof of that ideology remains to be seen, as research into the effects is still ongoing.
“I’m good for regulation as long as regulation is fair and people actually do their homework on the product as opposed to basing their decisions on fear, gossip and hearsay,” says Moreau, adding, “because that seems to be what a lot of the regulations are, they’re fear.”
Wayne Robillard is the owner of BuzzOn, a cannabis lounge in Vanier. It’s a place for people to gather and smoke marijuana through the use of vaporizers and hookas.
Robillard says the proposed bylaws from city council are ridiculous.
“The bylaws will definitely not be good for our business,” he says. “They’re going to use them to shut us down.”
Fleury says along with the new bylaws, a series of amendments will be coming to the electronic cigarettes act as of Jan. 1, 2016.
“If you’re a smoker, you can smoke at home. You can smoke where it doesn’t have impacts on others,” he says. “What we’re trying to do is make sure that the vaporizer and the e-cigarettes are treated equally to cigarettes.”