© Can Stock Photo / AndreyPopov© Can Stock Photo / AndreyPopov
Chatham

Smoke Free Ontario Act Remains On Hold

A Chatham-Kent health official is hoping the province will still move forward on a new piece of legislation that will protect youth from the harms of smoking.

Carina Caryn, program manager at the Chatham-Kent Public Health Unit, says the Smoke Free Ontario Act (SFOA) was supposed to be implemented on July 1, but has been put on hold by the Tory government.

"We're going to just let our board of health know that that pause has occurred," she says. "The government has said they're doing that to reexamine the evidence related to vaping as a cessation tool. We're going to go over the evidence in relation to e-cigarettes and also the implications of the pause, as well as what our bylaw covers."

Caryn says the province is continuing to operate under its previous Electronic Cigarettes Act and SFOA. She says the health unit is hoping the new act will eventually move forward again.

"We'll just encourage that we support the implementation of the new SFOA and encourage our board to send a letter to the premier to indicate our support for implementing the legislation as intended," explains Caryn.

She says one of the main reasons the health unit supports the act is that e-cigarette use is associated with cigarette smoking among youth.

"We really want to make sure that we are protecting our vulnerable population, in this case, youth," says Caryn. "We know that those youth that do use e-cigarettes, it does tend to lead initiation of smoking."

Caryn says there is the potential for adverse health effects with e-cigarettes as well. She says the new SFOA will ban the display and promotion of vapour/e-cigarette products.

According to Caryn, Chatham-Kent's bylaw does still cover e-cigarettes. She says the bylaw prohibits residents from using e-cigarettes in various locations like enclosed public places and workplaces, municipal properties, playgrounds, and near bus stops.

"We are lucky in that our bylaw is very comprehensive and that we still have a lot of protection related to e-cigarettes and medicinal cannabis use, even without the new Smoke Free Ontario Act," she says."But there are some of those pieces in addition to our bylaw and also the display and promotion of e-cigarettes that would limit the exposure to use especially."

**With files from Matt Weverink**

Read More Local Stories