By Stephen Petrick
The number of nicotine selling violations issued by the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit (HKPRDHU) rose steadily in 2021; a sign that the health unit will have to continue to focus on educating the public about the harmful impacts of smoking.
HKPR Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Natalie Bocking, unveiled statistics at the Jan. 20 health board meeting, held virtually.
She said the two tobacco control officers employed by the health unit issued 352 “warnings” to local vendors in 2021, up from just 81 warnings in 2020.
Those warnings led to 31 actual charges in 2021, up from 10 charges in 2020.
This increase came despite the fact that those offers were redeployed to work in COVID-related programs for much of 2021.
“Most of the charges in 2021 were issues related to selling vaping products to underage youth,” she said, explaining that new legislation prohibits vendors from selling vaping products with certain levels of nicotine.
“There are tremendous harmful impacts associated with youth taking up vaping and often taking up smoking cigarettes after that,” she said.
The health unit provides services for those trying to quit smoking. For details visit, hkpr.on.ca/my-health/quitting-smoking/.
