The Metropolis of Ottawa will be part of Toronto and 5 different southern Ontario cities in implementing enterprise licensing necessities for the sale of vapour merchandise.
As of Nov. 30, to start out or proceed promoting vapour merchandise – often known as vape or vaping – companies might be required to acquire a license beneath Part 12 of the Metropolis’s Licensing By-law regarding Tobacco and Vapour Product Retailers.
At the moment, vapour product retailers don’t require a enterprise licence in Ottawa, however companies promoting these merchandise are topic to inspections and regulation beneath the Smoke-Free Ontario Act, governing the sale, show and promotion of tobacco and vapour merchandise. The brand new licensing necessities will put vapour merchandise beneath comparable scrutiny to tobacco.
The licensing payment for retailers promoting both tobacco or vapour merchandise is $930 per yr. The annual licensing payment for retailers promoting each tobacco and vapour merchandise is $1,092 per yr.
A licence requirement gives further buyer protections, addressing issues associated to public well being and security. It gives the town with further instruments to help ongoing enforcement of the Smoke-Free Ontario Act and reply to cases of regulatory non-compliance significantly in relation to the sale of vapour merchandise to these beneath the age of 19.
The necessities come into place as issues are mounting across the rising variety of younger individuals utilizing vapour merchandise. A examine printed by the College of Waterloo in September discovered that one in 4 Ontario teenagers are vaping.
The outcomes present that youngsters with disposable earnings, those that stay in low-income properties, or those that are gender-diverse are extra doubtless to make use of vapour merchandise.
Vapes are more and more filling the hole brought on by a lower in cigarette people who smoke, however have their very own appreciable well being dangers.
Vaping merchandise include both nicotine or hashish, each of which might have dire penalties for younger and creating brains. Nicotine can stunt mind growth and might trigger dependency for younger individuals at smaller quantities than adults. Hashish may also trigger issues within the maturation of the mind, resulting in impairment in reminiscence, judgement and coordination. Hashish can be linked to psychological well being signs comparable to elevated anxiousness and paranoia.
Vaping aerosols additionally include different dangerous chemical compounds which might trigger issues for younger individuals and different customers alike. Along with nicotine, vaping liquids usually include glycerol, propylene glycol and chemical compounds used for flavouring; the long-term implications of inhaling these substances are unknown. Vapour merchandise additionally include some steel contaminants like nickel, chromium, tin, aluminum that are recognized to be cancer-causing.
The regulatory licensing requirement will come into impact Nov. 30.
