Ottawa Board of Health holds off on hookah, e-cigarette ban

Ottawa's Board of Health has voted to hold off on banning the use of hookah pipes and e-cigarettes in public places, in favour of waiting to see whether proposed provincial regulations will include a ban.

The use of non-tobacco combustible products and substances has been growing in popularity, as cities across the country try to close gaps in their smoking bylaws by banning them in public places.

Last month, Ontario announced it wanted to strengthen its smoking and vaping laws, but officials with Ottawa Public Health warned at Monday night's Board of Health meeting that regulatory gaps will likely still remain when it comes to the use of hookahs and e-cigarettes.

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The board approved recommendations from the City of Ottawa's top doctorto monitor the province's progress on new legislation and encourage Ontario's health minister to further strengthen the Smoke-Free Ontario Act and the Electronic Cigarettes Act.

"Our next steps in terms of that is to write letters to the province and the federal government, indicating that these are some of the gaps that they need to be addressing,"said Gillian Connelly, Ottawa Public Health'smanager of health promotion and disease prevention.

Any bylaws the city brought inwould be "piecemeal" and real change needs to happen at the provincial and federal levels, she said.

"At the local level what we're going to be doing is prevention and protection," said Connelly.

Lung disease sufferers 'disappointed'

Carmela Graziani has suffered from severe asthma for 22 years, and said second-hand smoke in public places even if it doesn't contain tobacco can set off her symptoms.

She spoke at Monday night's board meeting and urged members not to wait for provincial regulations, which she fears could take months or years.

"We're disappointed," said Graziani.

"The public wants protection. The science is there. We know these products,the second hand vapour and second hand smoke from water pipes is harmful."

On Monday, the board directed Ottawa Public Health to monitor the province's progress on new legislation and report back in June.

If the new rules still include gaps, city health staff would be asked to present options for bringing in the city'sownexpanded smoke-free bylaw.