A Nelson city councillor wants electronic cigarettes banned from municipal property. Robin Cherbo introduced a notice of motion this week to curb the use of the devices in city-owned buildings.
It followed a call from the World Health Organization last month for regulation of e-cigarettes as well as bans on indoor use, advertising, and sales to minors.
“It would mean nobody smoking e-cigarettes in the workplace or city buildings,” Cherbo told the Star.
The city’s smoking regulation bylaw, adopted in 1989 and updated last year, prohibited smoking within all city-owned premises and a clean air bylaw adopted the following year further banned it in most public indoor areas.
Cherbo now says he’d like e-cigarettes included along with their tobacco equivalents.
The products use a battery-powered cartridge that produces a nicotine-laced vapour, but because they are so new, the World Health Organization says there isn’t any long-term evidence demonstrating their safety or that they help users quit smoking.
Council will consider Cherbo’s motion at its next regular meeting in October.
In recent years, the city has also designated a number of smoke-free zones. In January, Interior Health approached the city about adding more.
