Vaping-It's in Our Community & What We Need to Know About It
Happy snowy Sunday everyone (including Doug & Linda in sunny Aruba, although they'd be happier with a sno cone to keep them cool)! I hope everyone had a safe and warm weekend. This week, I'm happy to present Jeff Moco, a Youth Engagement Coordinator in Chronic Disease & Well Being from CK Public Health.
As many of us have noticed around the community, many no smoking signs have made the transition to a dual sign, including no vaping as of October 15th, with the legalization of marijuana. Many people take up the pursuit of vaping or the use of e-cigarettes as an alternative to traditional tobacco smoking. Some will claim that it eases their transition of quitting smoking, but there is also a fear, with the variety of vape juices available, that youth may pick up vaping. I will let Jeff be our navigator though in our expedition through vaping.
What has your career path been up to this point? What attracted you to Chatham-Kent?
I have just hit my 10 year mark working in Public Health, where prior I worked in children's mental health counselling for approximately a decade. We have also just passed our 11 year mark living in CK as my wife grew up here and we moved from the KW region after our first child as we would have more support, and a cheaper and safer place to raise a family. I don't think I have a favourite place persay as I have 3 small children but the large community events that occur here tend to be my most enjoyed. For instance, I was on the committee to support Rogers Hometown Hockey and it was a large amount of work but also a large amount of fun.
What makes you passionate about working with youth?
I have always been a "helper" by trade and supporting those who have had some bad luck in life and the practical approaches to help cope and strive for things that are better in the future. I think a lot of our work in health with young people is to help instill better practices today to prevent some of the things that we know hurt us in the future.
What's one myth or little known fact about vaping?
"It's just vapour or water and it's completely fine" and "This will help you easily quit smoking tobacco" are things that I hear all the time that are really incorrect and misguided.
I remember when I was in high school, there was a rumour that you had to be 18 to purchase cigarettes, but only 13 to smoke them. Fact or myth?
Each substance has different laws about using them, buying them or having them and it can be really confusing. What students share among themselves is almost always wrong in my experience!
Alcohol: illegal to buy and use under 19 in public, police will confiscate and maybe give you a ticket, yes to use in home with parents permission
Tobacco/Vaping: illegal to buy under 19, legal to have on your person and use in authorized places (there's a whole list), illegal to give to a minor (large fines for that but almost impossible to prove in court, so you don't see these charges regularly. For instance, cigarettes bought in bulk from a First Nations source and sold out of a car at a school would draw more attention than a friend sharing a singe cigarette even though they are technically the same law being broken but it's a matter of scale.
Are there any local restrictions where vaping stores can be set-up? Do they follow the same rules variety stores do?
Vaping stores have a complete and new set of rules with the update to the Smoke Free Ontario Act this past fall. There are new ways to register the business and a separate licensing thing being developed with reporting. Basically, get a license to open, register with the Board of Health, we do regular compliance inspections (can't advertise outside, 90% of sales must be vaping products etc.). CK only has 2, it's expected 5 years from now we'd have more cannabis retailers than vaping only but that's my own speculations.
How has the legalization of marijuana affected the existing rules around vaping?
Hahaha...How hasn't it? It has complicated some things in terms of youth audiences. Scientifically it will be hard to determine what is impacting what with all of this sociological change. Harm reduction wise, vaping will be shared as a safer method to use cannabis but with vaping issues in schools, there is a concern that students will be getting high. Overall it's complicated and we are still trying to understand what the community's best needs in this regard, so there's been a lot of meetings and consultations to date with many more to come as issues emerge.