WINDSOR -- Following on the heels of the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit’s call for action, Ontario will ban the promotion of vaping products in convenience stores and gas stations.
Health Minister Christine Elliott says the ban will prevent youth from being exposed to vaping. It will take effect on Jan. 1, 2020.
Elliott says the changes come after new research shows vaping is on the rise among young people in the province.
Health authorities in Canada have begun to closely monitor reports of respiratory illnesses potentially linked to vaping.
Health Canada has said vaping has risks and the long-term effects remain unknown.
Just last week, the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit made the request after news of a serious vaping related illness in London as well as hundreds of cases in the U.S, including seven deaths.
Manager of Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention, Eric Nadalin, says rules around vaping products should be the same as tobacco.
"We want to protect young people from the dangers of tobacco smoke and we know we don't want young people vaping, so for that population the same types of regulations in terms of display and promotion of these products should apply," argues Nadalin.
Nadalin tells CTV News they have issued 25 vaping charges this year to area high school students, in addition to 11 charges issued to vendors who allegedly sold vaping products to minors under 19 years of age.
A survey done for Health Canada found one in five high school students report using vaping products.
The production of fruit and dessert flavours was halted earlier this month by Juul, the largest e-cigarette brand in the United States.
