Vaping and cannabis should be treated the same as tobacco under the capital region’s clean air bylaw, says Island chief medical health officer Dr. Richard Stanwick.
Stanwick is recommending the bylaw be amended to prohibit burning or vaping of any substances in any public space covered by the bylaw.
That would prohibit people from vaping or smoking pot in all those areas where smoking tobacco is prohibited, including in workspaces, within seven metres of doorways, windows or air intakes, at bus stops, or in public squares or in parks or at playgrounds.
Stanwick pitches the idea to the Capital Regional District’s planning and protective services committee on Wednesday
The change would follow similar steps taken by other local governments, including Vancouver, Maple Ridge, Chilliwack, Williams Lake, and Kelowna, CRD staff say.
The bylaw amendment would simplify enforcement as enforcement officers would no longer need to determine which substance is being burned or vaped prior to issuing a warning or ticket, CRD staff say.
Rina Goth, owner of E-Clectic Vape in Victoria, hadn’t heard of the proposals when contacted by the Times Colonist.
She didn’t see the need, saying that “vape” is not the same as second hand smoke.
“When you’re vaping it’s just a water vapor that’s expelled. It looks like it’s smoke but it’s just a water vapor,” she said. “It doesn’t cling to your clothes. You can’t inhale it. You can’t get secondhand vape from it. There’s no noxious chemicals. It just disappears real quick.”
Goth said many people use vaping to quit tobacco products.
“I’ve even had people that smoked two packs of cigarettes a day. They purchased their vaping equipment and now they’re completely off the vaping and the smoking.”
Premier John Horgan said in December that marijuana smokers in B.C. would likely have to abide by the same public smoking rules as tobacco when cannabis becomes legal, which is expected to happen this summer.
British Columbia’s Tobacco and Vapour Products Control Act sets a six-metre smoke-free buffer zone around doorways, air intakes and open windows to public spaces and workplaces.
Stores, offices, and entrances to apartment buildings are considered public spaces or workplaces under the act, which also includes work vehicles, public transit, taxis, cafes, casinos and pubs and bars.
It’s been three years since the CRD expanded the bylaw to make it illegal to light a cigarette at any park, playing field, bus stop, beach or public square in the capital region. The bylaw extended the no-smoking zones around doorways, windows, air intakes and bus shelters to seven metres from three metres.
Stanwick has said marijuana smoke contains 33 of the same carcinogens that are in tobacco smoke.
