Miro Cernetig
Sun
MAKING IT A LITTLE LESS CONVENIENT TO SMOKE: New rules for public smoking and cigarette sales will require shops like John Luu’s Blue Angel convenience store on West Pender to change their displays. Photograph by : Ian Smith, Vancouver Sun
VICTORIA – The days of smokers huddling around the doorways of public places are numbered after the provincial government announced Tuesday it will ban lighting up in public places or near the entrances to such places by 2008.
The new regulations, which the Canadian Cancer Society has been demanding for years, will also ban smoking in school yards by September. The government will also place further restrictions on tobacco advertising in stores, to help prevent children falling into the habit.
Reversing the government’s earlier view that such a smoking ban would be hazardous to the province’s hospitality industry, Health Minister George Abbott said that by early 2008, no-smoking buffer zones will be established around windows, entrances and air intakes to public places.
The goal is to limit second-hand smoke, which the government estimates kills about 140 British Columbians annually.
The government, which in 2001 rejected a proposal by the Workers Compensation Board for a similar crackdown, says it will consult the public over the next few months to determine how far smokers will need to stand away from entrances. But Abbott noted a three-metre buffer zone is required in some provinces.
“We’re delighted,” said Barbara Kaminsky, CEO of the Canadian Cancer Society’s B.C. and Yukon division. “I wouldn’t say these are the toughest regulations in Canada but it certainly allows us to catch up with the other provinces.”
New Democrats criticized the government for not banning the sale of tobacco products in pharmacies, as other provinces have, or banning smoking on the patios of bars and restaurants.
“It’s a mid-range effort,” said NDP health critic Adrian Dix. “Other provinces have done better.”
Smokers, 14 per cent of B.C.’s population, aren’t likely to be happy, given the wet winters. The regulations will ban workplace smoking rooms.
But they get little sympathy from the Canadian Cancer Society or the government, which estimates smoking kills 6,000 British Columbians a year and sucks $2.3 billion out of the economy. “Where are the smokers going to go?” asked Kaminsky. “There’s still the outdoors. Their homes. Their cars.”
Abbott, a non-smoker, agrees smokers will still be able to use tobacco on sidewalks and on patios in bars and restaurants, providing they aren’t around doors or windows. But, he added, there are limits to smokers’ rights.
“In society, these things are a balancing act,” he said. “You don’t want to have those who choose to smoke imposing the health consequences of their choice on others.”
The government will also outlaw the display of tobacco products in any retail space accessible to anyone under 19. It will ban tobacco ads from store ceilings or countertops and will ban tobacco-related ads anywhere outdoors.
The rules will also end smoking on school property. “Schools need to be healthy and safe places for students and staff,” said Education Minister Shirley Bond. “By banning smoking on all school property, the province is teaching our young people about the dangers of tobacco use and encouraging them to make healthy choices that will last them a lifetime.”
Perhaps the only smokers who won’t be taking Tuesday’s crackdown too hard are those at the B.C. Automobile Association.
When the organization made its building smoke-free in 1992, it found some employees headed to the sidewalk and into a nearby bus shelter when it rained. Bus drivers and passengers weren’t amused.
“When it was raining they went to the bus stop,” said Terry Switzer, who manages the building. “The drivers would think there would be half a dozen people waiting to get on the bus and it was just our people smoking. So we built them a 120-square-foot cedar shack. It’s pretty nice and out of the way and you can’t see anybody inside, except for the smoke that’s billowing out of the top.”
The government said that “smoking shack” may be permissible because it is outside the BCAA building.
TARGETING TOBACCO USE AND SALES
Amendments to B.C.’s Tobacco Sales Act will ban smoking in:
– All indoor public spaces, including restaurants, pubs, private clubs, offices, malls, conference centres, arenas, community halls, government buildings and schools.
– In public doorways, and “near” the doors, windows and air intakes of any building accessible by the public.
– Tobacco sales will be barred in public hospital and health facilities, universities and colleges, public athletic and recreational facilities and provincial buildings.
– The display of tobacco and related products will be banned in stores accessible to anyone under age 19.
© The Vancouver Sun 2007