Pubdate: Sat, 10 May 2014
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2014 The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Page: A15

EDMONTON BOARDS BAN E-CIGARETTES OVER FEARS OF MARIJUANA

The demand for hash oil, or cannabis resin, is attributed to the 
proliferation of the electronic cigarettes. Alberta's Law Enforcement 
Response Teams

Two Edmonton school boards have banned the use of electronic 
cigarettes on school property over concerns that some students could 
use the devices to smoke marijuana on the sly.

Police say officers have caught five high-school students in the past 
two weeks with e-cigarettes filled with marijuana oil.

The devices use a battery to heat and vaporize the oil. They mask the 
smell of the more concentrated drug, which delivers a more powerful 
high than a regular joint. Electronic cigarettes, which use the same 
technology to vaporize nicotine or other materials, are growing in 
popularity around the world, including with teens. Proponents say 
they are a safer alternative to tobacco.

A study published in September by the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention in the U.S. suggests that e-cigarette use by high-school 
students to smoke nicotine and other additives more than doubled to 
10 per cent in 2012 from 4.7 per cent the previous year.

The Edmonton Catholic board has imposed a similar ban.

Police say the trend of using e-cigarettes to smoke cannabis has 
increased the demand for marijuana and hash oil, which some people 
are distilling in dangerous home labs.

Fire and police officials in Alberta warn such extraction labs can 
cause fires and explosions.

Last July, a blast in a lab rocked a house in a Calgary residential 
neighbourhood as children played outside.

"The demand for hash oil, or cannabis resin, is attributed to the 
proliferation of the electronic cigarettes," said a recent release 
from Alberta's Law Enforcement Response Teams.

The Canadian Medical Association has said e-cigarettes are not 
approved for sale in Canada, but are readily available.

It has been calling for a ban on the sale of nicotine-loaded 
e-cigarettes to adults until there is solid evidence the devices are safe.

The association has said minors shouldn't be allowed to buy any kind 
of e-cigarettes.

"Edmonton Public Schools fully supports the Edmonton Police Service 
in making the community aware of any dangerous emerging trend," 
Superintendent Darrel Robertson said in a release.

"We will do what we can to not only enforce the restriction of the 
e-cigarette use around our schools, but to making sure our students, 
staff and parents are educated of its dangers."

- - The Canadian Press
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom