We, the people, request that the Toronto Board of Health reconsider items 2a & 2b of Agenda HL 33.1 to enact restrictions on the use and sale of electronic cigarettes in Toronto. We agree that there is a need for electronic cigarette regulation however we feel that items 2a & 2b - which prohibit both the use of electronic cigarettes wherever tobacco products are disallowed and the sale of flavoured electronic cigarettes, respectively - is unfair and will negatively impact many small business owners in the GTA, as well as those of us who have successfully quit cigarettes due to electronic cigarettes. Furthermore, we feel item 2b is not consistent with the laws governing the sale of alcohol and other potential hazards to our children (such as cough medicine which is frequently abused by our youth due to its psychoactive ingredients and availablity to those under the age of 19).

Recently, there has been a deluge of flavours in alcoholic beverages ranging from cupcake to bacon to peach, as well as prepackaged drinks marketed as pink lemonade, strawberry smoothy, and chocolate smoothy. We do not feel that the inclusion of fruit or candy flavour in an adult beverage puts our children at an increased risk of abusing alcohol, nor do we feel that adding similar flavours to electronic cigarettes puts children at risk.

We agree that there needs to be restrictions on the sale of electronic cigarettes to minors, in fact this is something that most of the vendors from Toronto and the surrounding area have enacted from the moment they opened their doors for business. (One need only enter these establishments to see the "Under 25? We I.D." and "19+ Only" signs prominently on display.)

We also believe that it is in the best interest of public health that electronic cigarettes are not used in public spaces such as restaurants, bars, and movie theatres, however we feel that by disallowing their use in businesses whose sole purpose is to sell electronic cigarettes and electronic cigarette accessories will negatively impact both the small business owners and the consumers. These establishments require the testing of personal vaporizers and their accessories by the customer, and we fear that the wording in item 2a will act as a blanket ban, putting many of these small business owners, many of whom have spent a substantial amount of their savings and credit on their establishments, out of business.

For the aforementioned reasons, we, the electronic cigarette vendors and consumers of the GTA, ask that the Toronto Board of Health reconsider acting on motion HL 33.1 at this time. Furthermore, we urge the Toronto Board of Health to speak with the electronic cigarette consumers and vendors of Toronto in order to design laws that are in the best interest of both public health and small business owners.