Ontario bans Vaping and Medical Marijuana use in Smoking-prohibited Area

Posted by Sagar Satapathy on March 12, 2016.

In a major policy U-turn, Ontario is all set to ban e-cigarette and medical marijuana users from smoking or vaporizing and selling anywhere regular cigarettes are prohibited such as in all enclosed public places, workplaces, and many outdoor areas.

“We have made a determination that smoking whatever it is — whether it’s vaping, whether it’s medical marijuana, whether it’s cigarettes — that there should be restrictions on that,” Premier Kathleen Wynne said Thursday. “And so the rules will apply to marijuana, to medical marijuana, to vaping as they do to cigarettes.”

The new rules come months after the Liberal government retraced the regulations on electronic cigarette after an exemption for medical marijuana users came in to notice. The original exemptions included restaurants, offices, movie theaters, stadiums, and even children’s playgrounds.

The e-cigarette rules were supposed to come into effect on January 1st. However, the government put the rules on hold and went back to the drawing board after the public learned of the medical marijuana exemption and that it meant users could vaporize in restaurants, at work or on playgrounds.

The government says these new regulations will be posted for consultation and they will continue to get feedback from experts.

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