Richmond city council is pushing back on vaping ads.
At Tuesday’s council meeting, council unanimously passed a policy to oppose ads for vaping on city-controlled properties, for example, transit shelters, bus benches and other “street furniture.”
This comes after health concerns have been raised about vaping. A staff report to council explains that 18 deaths in the U.S. have been linked to vaping.
There have been 1,000 other cases of people getting ill. Three cases are being investigated in Canada.
The Canadian Pediatric Society has called for a ban of flavoured vaping products after a 2018 survey showed 21 per cent of 12-to-19-year-old teens had vaped in the past month.
The high levels of nicotine are cited as a concern as – one vaping cartridge can have the same amount of nicotine as a pack of cigarettes.
This fall, the provincial Ministry of Health is expected to introduce a strategy to reduce youth accessing vaping products.
The policy is for a "clear statement of opposition to the advertisement of vaping products."
TransLink, however, has had ads for Vype – a vaping product made by Imperial Tobacco Canada – at some SkyTrain stations. A spokesperson for the transit authority said they can’t reject vaping ads under the freedom of expression laws in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
