Smoking Ban in Ontario/Quebec

Effective today it is now illegal to smoke inside public places in Ontario and Quebec and many bar/restaurant owners are upset...Waaaaah! Cry me a river. This law is long overdue and I think the upside far outweighs the often exaggerated downside.

Smoking bans are nothing new, it just seems that way to Ontario and Quebec who are about to join the majority of provinces that have had the ban for some time. I lived in BC when the ban came into effect in Victoria way back in 2001 and I found it to be so refreshing to be able to go to a restaurant and not smell that awful smell. Going to the bar used to be disgusting with that blue haze of smoke stinking up anything in its path. With the ban in effect I actually enjoyed going out more.

Many businesses cry foul and say they will lose money but for the most part that seems to only be temporary in most cases and then the profits stabilize. That has been the case in BC, Manitoba and others. If you look at the larger picture the economy as a whole actually improves in the long run since health care costs decrease as less people are effected by toxic smoke. The most important aspect of all is that mortality rates also drop. You may not know this but cigarettes actually kill people.

It baffles me that in this day and age that people start smoking. I understand why people who have smoked for a long time have trouble quitting as it is an addictive substance but why START smoking in the first place? Don't get me wrong, I have vices too (like food) but some vices are understandable. Some people use alcohol which occasionally tastes good and provides a sense of euphoria. Greasy or sugary foods may be unhealthy but they taste great. drugs like Marijuana and cocaine may be illegal but most people also get a high from them. What does smoking provide? Is it for the flavour? The image? The lovely yellow tint on teeth and fingers? I'm not going to hash out the myriad diseases that smoking causes as I think you get it so why risk it?

With all that in mind I find it incredibly unfair to subject non-smokers to such a deadly thing as second-hand smoke. Many of you have heard of the death of long-time waitress Heather Crowe (featured in anti-smoking ads) who contracted terminal lung cancer after 40 years of exposure to second-hand smoke. What a lot of people don't realize is that about 1000 people a year die from 2nd hand smoke with many of those exposed at work.

Could you imagine if your employer made you work in a building where toxic gas was pumped into your workspace the whole time you were working? Obviously there would be lawsuits and criminal charges so why should smoking be any different?

Frankly I think the Federal Government needs to make a nation-wide smoking ban to ensure standardization across the country. As it stands now the businesses that really suffer are those that are close to an aboriginal run business. You see First Nations are not obligated to obey provincial laws, only federal ones. This means that if a smoker has a choice between an establishment that bans smoking and one that doesn't where do you think he will go? First Nations are taking advantage of this by stealing business from those poor souls that must obey the law and I think it sucks. Unfortunately until the Feds change the law this ridiculous situation will continue.

Something for you to think about; Around the world someone dies every 10 seconds because of cigarette smoking, so in the time it took me to write this blog entry, 270 people died. In Canada every 8 hours or so, someone in this country dies as a result of second hand smoke. Maybe it's time people stopped bitching and realize that there is a whole lot more at stake than the profits of some bar.