A verbal exchange on a Toronto streetcar is raising questions about the law and etiquette surrounding vaping in public places.
Video circulating on social media appears to show a young woman coming to the defence of a senior, who asked another passenger to stop vaping near her on the TTC.
“She just asked you not to vape,” a woman can be heard saying, adding “you do not talk to people like that! She’s a grown woman. She’s asking you not to smoke on the TTC which is public.”
The exchange then gets louder, with both young women shouting at one another.
When it comes to vaping on the TTC, Stuart Green, spokesperson for the Toronto Transit Commission, said, “The simple answer is don’t.”
“Vaping is covered the same way smoking is, it’s covered in our bylaw and I think we are at a point in history where most people understand that vaping and smoking are the same thing,” he said.
Outside Davisville Station, there are a number of no smoking signs.
Those apply to vaping too.
WATCH: Video appears to show altercation between 2 women after 1 vapes on TTC
“I do not know if it’s legal or not, but by common sense you don’t smoke when you’re surrounded by a lot of people in a close area,” one TTC passenger who placed his vaporizer in his pocket as he entered the station, told Global News.
“I really do not want to breathe in any of that,” commented another passenger.
Several others said they continue to see people vaping in subways and on streetcars.
“Those that do, are subject to a penalty and that starts at about $235,” said Green.
Under the Smoke-Free Ontario Act, “you cannot smoke or vape in any enclosed workplace, any enclosed public place and other places designated as smoke-free and vape-free.”
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Those other places include, but are not limited to: A patio of any bar or restaurant, including the public areas within nine metres of the patio, in the entire premise of any child care centre or place that provides an early years program or service, in any public or private schools and within 20 metres of the school’s grounds and children’s playgrounds or public areas within 20 metres of children’s playgrounds.
“The Smoke-Free Ontario Act prohibits vaping in enclosed workplaces and enclosed public places, including on a streetcar, to protect workers and the public from second-hand vapour,” Toronto Public Health spokesperson Loren Vanderlinden told Global News.
And while Health Canada notes the health effects from exposure to second-hand vapour are still unknown, “Second-hand vapour is not harmless.”
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