The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit (WECHU) is calling on the province to make changes to the Smoke-Free Ontario Act in order for the health unit to be able to take appropriate action against vape stores who continuously sell to youth.
Youths aged 15-18 are employed and work closely with enforcement officials conducting compliance checks to see if a store will sell illegally to them.
Last year, 332 youth access inspections were completed with a 94 percent compliancy rate, resulting in 20 charges laid.
In the first quarter of 2024, 2 youth access inspections were completed, with no charges.
However, the health unit says there are still a handful of vendors, who are well known to them, that are continuously selling vape products to youth.
Jennifer Bradt, chronic disease and injury manager with WECHU says currently legislation only allows the health unit to prohibit tobacco retailers from selling product if they're caught selling to youth more than two times within a 5 year period.
"For vapour products that doesn't exist. So that's what the last board resolution was really trying to advocate for, was for that automatic prohibition piece."
She says the board resolution went to the Ministry of Health in May.
"They let us know that they hear us. They understand what we're asking for. Currently the Smoke-Free Ontario Act is not open for change, but when it does open up for changes in that legislation, we're hoping that some of our requested actions be made at that time."
She says for retailers, fines are just the cost of doing business and there isn't enough action the health unit can take to deter them.
Bradt says another issue facing the health unit is stores who are selling illegal vapes with 50 milligrams per millilitre concentration, while Health Canada has only approved 20 milligrams per millilitre concentration.
"So they're not approved by Health Canada and they have no duty paid stamp on them. They're brought from outside of Canada and shouldn't be sold here. Recently one of our youth test shoppers purchased one of these products and we were able to move forward with seizure of the additional products that were in that convenience store."
Windsor-Essex has 92 speciality vape stores, the highest per capita in the province, according to WECHU officials.
Five tobacco vape enforcement officers are responsible for inspecting nearly 500 tobacco and vape retailers across the region.
Tobacco youth access inspections occur twice a year and vape product vendors have youth access inspections once per year.