THUNDER BAY -- The Thunder Bay District Health Unit would support expanding the city’s public smoking ban to include electronic cigarettes and hookah pipes.
City council in Windsor, Ont. voted last week to amend its municipal bylaw and go beyond the current requirements of provincial legislation, the Smoke-Free Ontario Act.
Janice Piper, manager of injury prevention, substance abuse and tobacco with the TBDHU, said the health unit would support a similar move in Thunder Bay.
“We know that e-cigarette products are enticing to youth because of the thousands of flavours including candy, and this could lead to nicotine addiction…also normalizes the act of smoking,” she said.
Piper added that e-cigarette vapor exposes users to some toxins. This is a concern, he said.
"For the first time this year, there are more youth trying e-cigarettes than there are smoking.”
It's one of the findings in the most recent Ontario student drug-use survey. Piper said cigarette use is leveling off a bit but there are still high rates in the Thunder Bay area and e-cigarette use is on the rise.
She noted that the provincial government is now considering amendments to its legislation that would include provisions to limit e-cigarette use in public places.
A hookah pipe is a device that allows vapour or smoke to be passed through a water basin before inhalation.
