Hi there
Farees.
I'm glad that we both want a thoughtful dialogue. And it's always a good thing to ask questions & examine things critically. I'm never worried about that with regards to vaping, because I know it stands up to that kind of scrutiny.
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To answer your question about vaping in a bar: a bar is
not a public place. It's private property. I'm sure we've all seen those convenience store signs where it says
"no shirt, no shoes, no service." Now there's nothing
illegal about going around shirtless, lol - but
if you want to be served by that business on their private property, their rules apply.
Now that doesn't mean you
can't vape in a bar. It simply means that when it's private property...it's up to them whether they'll allow you to vape or not
on their private property. If they're cool with it, fine. If not, we need to respect that. It's like when someone is in your home...it's your home, your rules. If they're not cool with that, they can leave.
Most places that we think of as 'public' are in fact private property - shopping malls, airplanes, Timmies, bars, etc etc. But the vast majority of people in these places will not have a problem with vaping. A few might mistakenly think it's smoke at first, & go
"hey" - but it only takes a few seconds to explain that it's not smoke...& show them. I live in Toronto & I've been vaping all over the place for 17 months now. In all that time, only
one person has ever objected. Many people, even non-smokers, are excited to learn that this wonderful alternative exists. They get it. They get that it's a good thing.
I've also openly vaped in government offices, numerous times - and no one so much as raised an eyebrow.
(Unlike a Timmies etc, a government office is most definitely a public place. Vaping in a public place is just as legal as breathing in a public place is, lol.) I may as well have not been doing anything, for all the attention it drew lol. That surprised me...but it was a pleasant surprise!
My point being: people are increasingly aware of, used to & comfortable with e-cigs. Very few fail to understand the difference between vaping & smoking. The key for vapers is to be respectful & considerate & aware. Being able to explain what you're doing
(and not doing) in a brief & simple way also helps.
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As to employees having a right to a safe & clean working environment...I must repeat that there has never been
any evidence that vaping is harmful to those around you. Nor is there
any evidence that vaping is any more harmful than common caffeine consumption to the person who is vaping. In the absence of such evidence...there is no valid safety concern. I mean I can start
imagining all kinds of nonsensical safety concerns, about everything & anything if I wanted to. But unless there's solid evidence to back up the concern...it's just my imagination.
The situation with Newff was very clearly
not a
"safety concern" thing - as his workplace allows deadly
smoking on-site! Newff also said that he'd been vaping there on-site for over two years, without any problem. It was only recently that someone there did some flawed
"research" & drew the
mistaken, easily-disproven conclusion that e-cigs & vaping were illegal. They're
not illegal, because there's no law against them. I mean there are police who vape for goodness' sakes - openly! It's legal.
Employers don't have the luxury of being
"too lazy" to respect the rights of their employees. Everything is legal unless there's a law saying otherwise. As
kanadiankat said earlier:
"Employee/Employer rights and obligations in Canada are controlled by laws that prevent employers from interference in the individual life choices of their employees." In Newff's case...there was simply some confusion over the legality on the part of one person...which can be easily cleared up.
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As to the point about battery safety...millions of people vape, worldwide. Millions. And in the last few years, we've heard of an 'exploding battery' situation happening like three times. Out of millions. Let's be generous & assume a dozen more such occurrences over the years that went unreported. That's still only 15 out of millions. Furthermore, in these incredibly rare instances where there was a problem, it was
always due to an unsafe setup
(stacked batteries etc) - i.e. user error.
Anything that uses batteries can technically go wrong. We've all heard of overheating laptops...exploding/melting mobile phones, iPods...and so forth. When you examine the numbers...I would say that the track record for e-cigs to date is exceptionally good! We
have to look at concerns in their proper context, in order to give them appropriate value. Example: you might get hit by a meteor & die - does that mean you should never go outside again? You see what I'm saying.
Vapers need not worry...especially if they take the time to get informed & make sure they're being safe. I would recommend that every vaper watch the one-hour video recording of
VTTalk's live show from February 15th, 2012. It was all about batts - informative, enjoyable, and reassuring. Here's the link:
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I understand you're very new to vaping Farees
(congrats on your 2 weeks btw!)...so naturally, you're asking a lot of these questions for the very first time. It's all pretty new to you, and there's a lot to learn. That's OK. We were all newbies at some point...and we're all continuing to learn, together. It's
never a bad thing to ask questions or scrutizine the issues.
At the same time, we know enough to know that we must stand vigilant against attempts to unjustifiably malign and/or suppress vaping. Because there are rich people out there who hate the fact that vaping works - that it doesn't kill people - and that it spells the end for some very old golden geese of theirs.
We all know what a blessing vaping has been for each & every one of us. We want this wonderful alternative to smoking to always be available - for ourselves, & for everyone else who can benefit from it. That's why I vape openly; it's why I'm contributing to this discussion. It's why I've done my best to remain as informed as I possibly can about vaping. The more knowledgeable that each of us becomes about these things...the better off we'll all be in the long-run.
Anyway, I'm clearly rambling now so I'll leave this post as is. All the best, belated welcome to the forum, & happy vaping!
