Hi
renthepen!
There's no law against vaping in Canada. It's as lawful an activity as eating.
But while eating is perfectly legal...there
are places where people can say
"hey, you can't eat in here" & you have to respect that if you want to stay. It's the same deal with vaping.
No one can stop you from vaping in a
public place...'cause it's public & there's no law against it. The confusion comes from the fact that most places we
think of as public, are in fact private...and our access to
those places is entirely provisional on abiding by their rules. A Tim Hortons for example, or a shopping mall...those are privately owned businesses located on private property. If you want access...
their rules apply. Which can include
"hey, don't eat in here" or
"please don't scream the lyrics to this song that's playing on the radio" (lol), or
"hey, don't vape in here" etc.
It's the same deal if someone's in your home. Just because you invite visitors doesn't make it a public place; your rules apply.
In my experience, most places & people will
not have a problem with you vaping. They get that this is not smoke...that's it a good thing. Sometimes you may need to take a few seconds to explain, since many have still never even heard of this...but that's easy to do. They'll often be thrilled when they realize what it is!
In almost two years of vaping all over the place, I've only once been asked to stop. It was a cranky security guard who didn't want to know what it was, & who foolishly claimed that my
Black Mamba e-juice
(a citrus/blackberry/cranberry blend) smelled like cigarette smoke, lol. I didn't argue; I complied & everything was cool
(especially since I was about ten steps from the door & leaving anyway ).
There are
some places that I don't even try to vape in...because I can intuitively tell that it's not gonna go over well there. Which is fine; I don't need to be constantly vaping
every second of the day. Vaping in public exposes people to the existence of e-cigs, which is a great thing to do. But there are times & places where you just know that it's not vape-city. There's a difference between being visible & open about it...& being a jerk.
So my advice is to vape on...exercise a bit of common sense, & above all...be friendly, respectful & considerate. You'll be fine.
P.S. I would just like to advise everyone to
never try sneaking a vape in an airplane. Steam from a shower has, on occasion, been known to mistakenly set off a smoke alarm...and along those lines, I know of at least one vaper who ended up setting the alarm off by vaping in a plane's bathroom. A plane is private property, and most if not all airlines have already said
"please don't vape on the plane." So let's respect that as we should...not only because we should anyway, but also because we don't need any negative instances leading to even more restrictive conditions. If you really need your nic fix during those few hours in flight...there are other options available to you.
