There's growing concern about access to vaping products by underage youth in Windsor-Essex, and the health unit wants the province to put additional penalties in place for retailers who sell these products to minors. At a meeting on Thursday, the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit agreed to ask the province to start treating vape shops that break the rules the same as tobacco retailers. Eric Nadalin, the unit's director of public health programs, said data from the 2023 Ontario student drug use and health survey suggests that 25.

6 per cent of youth who have accessed a vape product in the region did so through a local store. While the survey also suggests that 43.4 per cent got access from a friend or from a relative, Nadalin said 25.

6 per cent from a store is a concerning number. "We know that selling to anyone under the age of 19 is illegal, and retailers know that too. We go through extensive efforts to educate them on that regulation," Nadalin told CBC News.

"So, when a retailer sells a vape product to a youth, they are knowingly doing so or they're knowingly choosing to not ask for identification." Eric Nadalin, the director of public health programs for the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit, says 'when a retailer sells a vape product to a youth, they are knowingly doing so or they're knowingly choosing to not ask for identification.' (Kathleen Saylors/CBC) Tobacco retailers who have two infractions to the provincial regulations in a five-year period face suspension for a pe.