CFN – With Ontario passing a new smoking law as of January 1, 2015 area smokers are flaming on social media.
The most common complaint is that it will hurt business; but this is usually stated by smokers themselves.
The new law makes it illegal to smoke on commercial patios and near playgrounds, hockey rinks and outdoor areas.
The fines are $250 per pop; but with the scheduling of January 1st most patios won’t be hit until after Winter. The policy also allows for warning tickets to be issued.
The province sites over 13,000 tobacco related deaths per year and $2.2 B spent on tobacco related healthcare.
Cornwall Music Promoter Jeff Brunet (a smoker himself) said:
“As far as I’m concerned the government isn’t considering the economic impact on venues never mind doing any of the research.
The damage this law will do on top of other red tape will be profound.
It will be the last nail in many venues coffins. I hope the hospitality industry stands up to this brutality and repeals the law. Let the venues decide if smoking will be allowed outside on their PRIVATE property and customers can make their own choices accordingly.”
What do you think about the new policy CFN viewers? You can vote in our poll and post your comment below.
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From the Province:
Ontario Further Protecting Children and Youth from SmokingOntario is taking action to protect children and youth from the harmful effects of smoking. Starting January 1, 2015, it will be illegal to:
These changes to the Smoke-Free Ontario Act are part of the government’s plan to limit smoking in public places, reduce exposure to smoking and make it more difficult for young people to buy tobacco. Promoting a smoke-free Ontario is part of the government’s four-part economic plan to build Ontario up by investing in people’s talents and skills, building new public infrastructure like roads and transit, creating a dynamic, supportive environment where business thrives, and building a secure savings plan so everyone can afford to retire. |
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And the province thinks bylaw / police officers are going to rush to a patio to issue a smoking ticket? Yeap, okay.
The province needs money as bad as they need to distract each of us from boondoggles.
If smoking is so bad, remove the product instead of all this social engineering, of course that goes back to my first 4 words.
Eric prohibition doesn’t work. You know that, right? Btw, you’re at 712 approved comments amigo. Thanks for you contribution to the conversation!
Eric I agree that your first 4 words state the reason for the social engineering. The reality is that if the revenue from the sale of tobacco was less than the yearly increase in health related spending than it likely would only be available through a registered plan similar to medical cannabis until the demand no longer existed. The other reality is that while relative to population smoking has seen some decreases the overall world population has increased and so has the sale of tobacco products simply because population is outpacing cessation of use statistics. It all does come down to money in the end and not health and our well being. I am a non smoker however I do not agree with the social engineering and the latest changes.
David that’s your 250th approved comment. Cheers!
I,m totally for no smoking in playgrounds or public sports places,and so is everone else i would presume.This part is a no brainer. But As i see it they only added this on to get the support they needed for the No smoking on outdoor patios.
Anytime you want to pass anything just involve children in any scheme of things.
Smoking could easily be drastically reduced by simple legislation to reduce the nicotine content incrementally over a few years. By removing the addictive component, there would be no reason to smoke. This will never happen because in truth, our governments want people to smoke for two reasons. The first is obviously the huge amount of tax collected on tobacco products. The second is that smokers usually die quickly (cheaply) and early, which saves billions in medical costs and pension payouts.
If Only they can pass a law for smoking in apartments ( only if it is bothering other neighbors). I have a two year old daughter that has asthma really bad and needs to be treated regularly and I have a neighbor who lives downstairs from my apartment and He smokes all day. It goes up into my apartment and it’s bad enough to the point where my daughter has a hard time breathing and I have to keep cleaning everyday to get rid of the smell. And when I go outside I can taste the smoke… I’ve tried everything to get the man to stop smoking and he is not willing to cooperate. I understand that he has the right to smoke but, Come on… how can people be so selfish…
Sadly one of you needs to move.
Sam Bronfman enjoyed prohibition, but you are right Admin.
Not sure how many of those 712 posts have me agreeing with Furtz, but the idea of removing the addictive components deserves further review.
Sure reducing public spaces available for smoking can be helpful for many, but will this be another law without effective enforcement?
Nanny state strikes again.
Province is going broke.
Province wants money – how to raise it?
Through fines and penalties.
If they were honestly concerned they would simply ban the sale of the product.
As cigarette sales drop and more people quit this LEGAL habit, the tax income decreases.
Solution?
Increase the income with fines and penalties to recoup the tax losses.
Anyone really believing this is a matter of health?
It is simply another money grab created by those foolish people who voted for the libs.
It is going to get far worse before it gets better.
Look for far more “sin” taxes and then additional taxes on “luxury” foods.
Roads, fuels, tires – all will go up yet again as the libs steal more cash to implement their nanny state ideology.
Is there anyone out there actually thinking it will get better? LOL
Well, if you do, be sure to look for the swamp land I have for sale in Maxville! LOL
Again I say “And the province thinks bylaw / police officers are going to rush to a patio to issue a smoking ticket? Yeap, okay.” This will not be major income for the province, cities, etc. Police, etc. have more important things to be enforcing.
You cannot prevent people from smoking and if there were no cigarettes in stores I can tell you that the “bootlegging” of cigarettes would be a great deal worse than what it is today. The same is true with liquor or anything else people will always find a way of obtaining their habits. It is much easier to quit drinking than what it is to quit smoking and any smoker can tell you that. I understand not to smoke in an enclosed space like a hockey arena and such but outside is another matter. We constantly breathe the pollutions of industries, cars, etc. which is just as bad and I know because when I first came back to Ottawa I had a hard time to adjust with the pollution of cars. Everything is bad for our health from plastics to the garbage food that we are eating all GMO thanks to Monsanto and such companies. Billions of beas are dead because of GMO corn, etc. All that was on yahoo just the other day. Blaming cigarette smoke is ridiculous when you get to know about all the rest of the pollutants out there and the cancer causing chemicals put in food.
Tony, is the smell being recirculated through the heating/cooling vents? Try some filters designed for heat registers and a room air purifier.
Maybe buy the neighbour an air purifier to use…..
Tony Eric gave you some good ideas and I will tell you something. Many years ago back in the 70’s and 80’s when I worked in the federal government we had a number of smokers in our unit and elsewhere. Two of the women in our unit brought in air purifiers to put on their desks and they too could not stand the smell of the cigarettes. You can also put in some sort of a filter in the ducts of your heating unit and that helps as well and the previous owner of a house that we purchased did that he and was a smoker and I guess his wife minded the smell. Tony I sympathize with what you are going through and my daughter has bronchitis and we have two smokers in our household and my daughter and I hate it but I cannot stop them from smoking. If we stop people from one bad habit can you imagine what can be taken away from all of us. Take as many precautions as you can to make your daughter’s life easier. The pollutants in our food, water and air are so bad that the elevations in cancer are horrendous.
Smoking away from public places is a good idea. Noone wants to smell like a strong Canadian cigarette. My Mom died from smoking those cancer sticks. She had given it up but your lungs do not repair themselves. Go with the plan Canada.
Both my grandfathers smoke all their lives starting in their early teens. They both died way too young. One at 94 and the other at 91. And both my grandmothers lived in houses full of secondhand smoke. They both died way too young as well. One at 89 and the other at 101.
My dad died of smoking at 67 Furtz. His dad, also a smoker, died at 77. There are other factors in life too and for every George Burns there are far too many that died before their time.
Agreed Jamie. My father never smoked and hardly ever drank. He got an incurable (at the time) cancer at 48 and died from suicide at 52. He might have lasted another six months.
80% of second-hand smoke studies show no relative risk for any disease, including the WHO big c ities study, 1998 The WHO gave a press release stating that it did not believe its own study. What? Most of the studies that find a significant relative risk are cases control studies with pathetic relative risks under 2.0. The world is full of pathetically low relative risks. And of course there was the fraudulent EPA study.
If you want to believe the second-hand, or third-hand smoke nonsense fine. I would suggest you read the book Iron Fist Velvet Glove for the history of anti-tobacco. It is very informative.
To sum up, the whole second hand smoke thing seems mute.