Smoking Ban in BC Update
byThe tougher laws and regulations from last summer are all culminating on March 31st, 2008 when new reforms get put into place throughout the Province.
Under new laws, smokers will not be allowed to light up in public places and workspaces, or within three metres of public doorways.
The new tobacco regulations, which fall under the Tobacco Control Act, will ban:
*Smoking in all indoor public spaces and work places, with exemptions made for the ceremonial use of tobacco by Aboriginal Peoples.
*Smoking within three metres of public and workplace doorways, open windows or air intakes.
*Tobacco sales in public buildings, including hospitals and health facilities, universities and colleges, athletic and recreational facilities, and provincial government buildings.
*Display of tobacco products in all places where tobacco is sold that are accessible to youth under 19.
*Tobacco ads that hang from the ceiling, countertop tobacco displays, self-serve tobacco displays and outdoor tobacco signs.
[From the CBC]
Under the tighter laws, you can no longer get smokes in libraries or hospitals (I didn’t know you could in the first place anyway) however smoking is not banned on patios in BC for the time being. Most of all you’ll notice the new lack of advertising for cartons of cigarettes as retail stores where minors are permitted will no longer be able to promote the sale of tobacco goods. More info can be found on the Tobacco Free government website.
Signs were put up at home in our elevators last week to remind everyone that it is prohibited to smoke in common areas. Although I don’t think I’ve ever spotted someone lighting up in the laundry room, I hope this means our pool is now a clean-air zone. Nothing was worse than swimming laps last summer and surfacing with a gasp only to have my lungs filled with polluted air from a sunbathing tenant’s cigarette.
38 Comments — Comments Are Closed
You mean when we walk outside, we will greeted by ‘fresh’ air rather than by smoke? What a novel concept, eh!
Hey!
I am happy! I am looking forward to not have someon blow smoke in my face when I ask them to move away from a door so i can enter.
This is excellent! Smoking is terrible and I think that if you are going to have a bad habit, make it something that won’t kill you… like eating chocolate or something
YEA!
I was passed over by our administrative person with the documents detailing this new ban. Thing is, our air intake system to the building can still suck in smoke from below if the wind is blowing just right.
You never win.
ah you are all just bitter BC’ers 😉
Here in ontario you can’t smoke on patios with an “overhang” which is seriously ridiculous – you see people standing less than a foot from the overhang to avoid the non-smokers — who, of course, are not afriad to get into their gas guzzling SUVs sans guilt…
kidding. I like the layout of your blog. you always keep it interesting and intelligent, relevant – with a personal element instead taking “hot” photos of yourself in various locations
[…] for some I know, so I do have sympathy. If you want to get a full view of the ban, click on over to Miss604 for […]
I know people will be thinking that I am just a rabid militant smoker here. But since when did smokers cease to have rights? I have no problem whatsoever with smoking outdoors and protecting people who don’t smoke. I understand that this is a health issue and people are concerned for their own well being. I get that, but where the heck are smokers now supposed to go to have a puff… out in the middle of the street and hope not to get hit by a passing car, that is emiting much worse fumes than the cigarette that the smoker is smoking.
People have to get real and realize that it is not just us terrible smokers that are causing health issues, such as asthma… WHY is the blame always on smokers??? Did you not see the thousands of car and hundreds of factories out there, emitting much more toxic suff than my cigarette…
Yes second hand smoke is not nice stuff… but c’mon people quit picking on other humans who happen to have an addiction (At this point it may be a disability?!? – which may mean that you are bigots for picking on a person wiht a disability) and go after the real culprets… the drivers of those big gas guzzling SUVS, the factories that make all those goods that you so desparatly need and leave smokers alone.
Its easy to pick on some person on the street, who happenends to be smoking… GET REAL and do something if you want our air to be cleaner, take the bus, lobby the government for better polution controls…. but get real, being around my cigarette will not kill you, contrary to popular belief.
I concur with the above. Especially with the soccer moms and their SUV’s. Rabid smoker, you make very valid points. I too am a smoker. And, I WILL go out of my way to make sure that my smoke is not disturbing anyone, but I agree…where the hell are we supposed to go now?
Yeah, I don’t really think this ought to be a problem. The new advertising and display laws, etc… but the restrictions on where smokers can and cannot smoke really does bug me. I’m a smoker. I enjoy smoking. I’m sure that I’m very slowly but very surely on the path to a kind of addiction, but at the same time, I don’t think this should disqualify me from the right to feel discriminated against for my hobby/habit/past-time.
Personally, I get that it’s a problem to have people smoking around other, relatively healthy people, and I respect that, but what worries me is where this may be heading. How far away are we from smoking being automatically seen as a kind of debilitating disease, like severe alcoholism? All the rights of non-smokers and their concerns need to be reciprocated. I don’t want to get shoehorned into some kind of social stigma where I’m generally seen as a lesser person for smoking [and especially so for genuinely enjoying it]. Don’t get to the point where the act of smoking could actually be seen as a kind of sign of protest.
I wanted to draw your attention to this important petition that I recently signed:
“Stop the Wisconsin Smoking Ban”
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/stopthewiban?e
[…] a follow up to my follow up post about the new smoking regulations in BC, I thought I would focus on the direct […]
Don’t let the people that is for this smoking ban make the smokers second class people I urge you all to get in volved.
here is a great place to start
“Stop the Wisconsin Smoking Banâ€
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/stopthewiban?e
I don’t smoke. Don’t like it. Think it’s kinda gross. Hate walking down the sidewalk and inhaling someone else’s gross second-hand.
That said, I think this ban is ridiculous. It either goes too far or not far enough. If we’re going to say that smoking tobacco is a legal activity for anyone over 19, that it’s a legitimate product that can be legally sold, and then slap all kinds of absurd restrictions on it, then is it really legal? I feel bad for convenience store owners who have had to bend backwards to please the government and now have to cover one of their main products. If something is legal, it shouldn’t feel illegal.
It’s an un-enforceable law that is silly! I mean, I certainly appreciate the cleaner buildings we’ve had since banning smoking indoors, and it would be a wonderful world if there was no more cigarette smoke clouds in front of public doorways, but… I don’t know. It smacks of fascism. If we go this far, we might as well just ban tobacco products altogether.
To be honest I believe this is stupid because now that they banned smoking from smoking rooms, more smokers will be on the sidewalks and people will be taking more second hand smoke and the fact that they have to cover it up at gas stations, we know it’s there…..whats the point?
This is weird because once pot is all legalized in vancouver, no one will be able to smoke it. Just wait, that’s pot, not cigarettes, everyone smokes pot so it’s not a big deal, but the cigarette, holy gross! right? That’s why they are getting rid of the homeless, because a lot of them smoke, so they move them out of the city, haha, i hope they have another free heroin outlet for them outside the city. I seriously miss the day when i was a kid, and hated smokers, and if someone was smoking i would move away from them, if someone was drunk i would move away from them, or if someone was yelling and cussing i’d go away from them. It’s really weird now because we have to force ourselves to deal with it all, like we have no escape. I think vancouver should be cocaine free too. Also there should be a dress code, the majority of people wear sweatpants, haha. Funny stuff, i don’t really care, everyone can do what they want, i look forward to it, it makes the day awesome.
Smokers stop complaining about cars just quit for your own health and stop being polite “I understand, I go out my way for none smokers…”. I do smmoke and I like the ban it encourege us smokers to quit. So stop understanding every body and ask yourself whats good for you 🙂
I smoke and drive a car, i hate it when non smokers jaywalk, it makes me so mad i push the gas and smoke more.
James, obviously you can’t wrap your head around the health hazards of smoking, and obviously you can’t comprehend what happens if you smoke. Obviously your mind has been brought up in a inept family. Obviously. I am a non smoker, and i obviously think that smokers are gross.
I think this is not so much about ooo us poor smokers or ooo us poor non smokers any more. what the issue at hand is where is this going? it was heading in the direction of ” if you smoke you die, if you hang out with smokers you get seariously sick, if you don’t smoke you live” but now this is getting to the point of the government setting personal guidlines. Hey I am all for doing the right thing but once that starts encroaching on our freedom that opens the door for futur encrochments. so many people here have made great points on either side so i won’t go repeating. if the government was really searious on people quiting they would set an out for the smokers. like quitting aids being provided for free. also if they raised the legal age limit by one year every year then that would drasticaly help weed out the smokers. I ask you to hoestly sit down and write a pro/con list and make it honest. look at it from both sides if you can and you just might see a very dangerous trend here. yes soon we will be mostly smoke free but at what cost? when did we loose the right of self judgement and common sense? right now it is smokeing but after this issue is dealt with what next? it would be nice if we were all the exact same “model” human beings but the truth is we are not. we all do things that piss each other off but in the end shouldn’t it be us who have the right to common sense even if that means that some of us wont us it? watch out… those of you that are over wieght, under wieght, under hygenic, dispositioned, sub I.Q’ed, jobless, homeless, or just someone that does not fall in the “optimal” human model, you WILL be next if things do not change. REMEMBER GEORGE ORWELL. looks like he wasn’t too far off the mark.
Smokers should only be able to smoke in their vehicles and homes-and that is it. It is just plain stupid in this 2008 that puffing on poisonious sticks should be allowed in any public area. Why would you want to put any child at risk of inhaling your sickness-do you ever think that a person or child may has sensitivities/allergies or dealing with an illness of their own when you exhale your poison into the air they breathe next? Keep on banning BC!! Next is smoking in the car with children-that is child abuse!!!
I think it is quite simple. The laws already existed. You should be able to smoke anywhere you can drink and you should be able to buy them anywhere you can buy booze. To protect the barmaids, yes a smoking area is required in the bars, and no worker can be made to go in unwillingly. OMG someone would actually have to get up and go get their own beer?!?
Ban smokers here and ban smokers there. smokers cost the health care system so much money. Soon as we ban all the smokers including myself then we can start some action on the fat and obese people who also cause much financial hardship to our health care system.
We won’t ban them from McDonalds because we want their money. Instead we will impose a 10% FAT Tax that will be directed to BC’s Medical services plan!
Hi Everyone! Wow some interesting views. I am impressed. I know this probably sounds repetitive but here are my views on the whole smoking thing.
I agree with the bans in buildings (but they should have an outbuilding for the people who work there such as a bus shelter for winter)(just my opinion) I agree with the bans at doorways seriously going in they take a cloud of smoke in there with them, is kinda gross. HOWEVER! As a parent, I have three children and we travel a lot, I believe that if you have proper ventilation ( i drive a minivan and always have the windows rolled down (even in the winter) AND i always have the fan thingies going in the car THEY SHOULD NOT BE ALOUD TO STOP US FROM SMOKING IN OUR OWN PERSONAL PROPERTY!!!!
That being said i also have another note. I have been a smoker since i was way younger. and I have ALWAYS had the courtesy of MOVING when people were coming by, or at the bus stop, or by a store….NEVERMIND the common sense thing. How About the other COMMON “common Courtesy”
Have a good day all
I really don’t understand how any one with half a brain can think this is a good thing. Let explain this to the small minded people here who belive in everything they read. This really isn’t about smokers, nonsmokers, or health. This is about money, and control.
If you belive that the government is doing this out of concern for any one then your stupid. If you think that the government “cares” about weither or not you smoke then your crazy. The government wants money, and the government wants more control over its people. Governments like this are power hungry money loving pigs.
Besides the government the anit smoking groups are pissing themselves because they won. They like the government love the fact that they can control every one else. These people belive that they are the center of the world or COW if you prefer. They only care about their narrow view of the world and any one against them is a enemy. They belive that smokers have no rights and that we need to just like every one else. Anti smoking advocates are a truly sick and twisted kind. Not since Hitler’s Germeny have you seen such intolerence against a group of people.
What this boils down to is this Communism plain and simple. Truth in its most hurtful form. Take away the rights of the people and give more power to the government. Thats what is going on here in Canada and in the States. Two countries that shout freedom and then take it away for a few bucks and a bit of power. Truly, truly horrifying.
And the worst thing of all people like a few previous posters fall for it. Soon smokers will be sent to concentration camps and people who own big trucks and gas guzzling cars will be put in jail. And Anyone who disagrees with the will of the government will be put to death. All because we are to stupid to stand up and say “Enough is enough.”
The sad fact is not one study is 100% correct on the effects of primary or secondary smoke. EVERY study done quotes questionable sorces, inflates their numbers and leaves out hurtful data. The truth is MORE poeple each year are killed by acohol then by tobacco. Weither it be acohol posioning or car accidents the number is almost double. Expecial when you take in to consideration that the number of deaths due to tobacco is a inflated number. Using even a brief exposer to second hand smoke as the cause of death. My greatgrandfather died of a heart attack many years ago due to being geniticly sesetable to it, but since my greatgrandmother smoke his goes of death was atributed to second hand smoke. Even though that wasn’t the case.
People who sit on their high pedistool looking down on smokers as if we were a subsecise to them really need to get over themselves. Because truthfully your not that important. And you never will be.
Thats the truth, weither you like it or not “Commrades”.
Have a nice day
Sorry for the previous spelling errors but its late and I can’t sleep due to a coffee craving earlier. I tend not to check my spelling in a rant as well.
[…] The last year has been a big one for smokers in BC; first there was the patio smoking ban, then the updates in March that made it an offense to smoke within 6 meters of entrance ways (among other stipulations). […]
This is for Kim, that is actually defending the fact that she smokes in her car, sorry minivan, with her children.
YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED!!!!!!!!!!!
You should stop smoking immediately, what you are doing is child abuse!
I can’t believe that you would put your children in harms way like that- don’t you realize the smoke blows back in towards them??
For gods sakes, think of your kids first and your nasty habbit second!
I know it sounds draconian to a lot of people, but I welcome the ban – although I don’t think it goes far enough. I live in an apartment building. I pay a lot of money in rent. I love my apartment, but am looking to move because the guy next door is a chain smoker and it pollutes my space. When the wind is blowing in a certain direction (i.e. through his apartment and into mine) I literally can’t use my bedroom. I’m not joking – my nose gets stuffed up; I have trouble breathing; and I feel sick to my stomache. It is horrible. But there is nothing I can do. He is “smoking at home”. I found out that the last two tenants had to move because they couldn’t handle it. But when I complain, his response is – it’s my apartment, I can do whatever I want. I have no problem with this guy smoking in his own home, I just have a problem with him smoking in mine, when he wasn’t even invited over….
Thanks for this excellent post! As a woman I know that smoking is more harmful to me than it is for men.
I DONT TELL U TO0 SMOKE SO DONT TELL ME NOT TOO! has anybody else noticed that all the cigarettes have disappeared? theres just this big white sheet were all the smoke used to be!!
[…] so often I get a new comment on my old post about the smoking ban in BC as people are quite passionate about the topic. This is also evident in this case where a man wants […]
To all those smokers who feel their rights are being violated by this ban, think about the rights of non-smokers! More importantly, just think that your exposing innocent people to a known carcinogen. Yes, it causes cancer, and if you think it wont happen to you…go walk through a cancer ward, or a hospice and see those people dying a painful death and think of their families and what they go through. Those pictures on the side of your carton are not photoshopped. If you want to go poison yourself, go ahead, but why expose everyone else to it. Besides cancer, there are a multitude of diseases caused by first and second-hand smoke. Why should non-smokers be punished because you want to ‘enjoy’ a stinking, disgusting, health hazard. Yeah yeah, you’ll get all in an uproar saying ‘to hell with non-smokers, this is my right’. Well, you dont have the right to inflict pain, discomfort, disease or death onto another living being. Whether its an adult, child, or pet, it should not be tolerated, and you smokers should get it though your thick blackened skull that this ISNT ABOUT YOU. Think of others for a change, the world does not revolve around you and your selfish to think it does. If you want to make it about rights, non-smokers deserve the right to breathe clean( minus all the other toxins floating out there) air. Hey, if the smoke was good for you, then sure go ahead and smoke away in public, but its NOT. So go ahead and be weak and smoke. Yes, it does make you a lesser being and yes people will look down on you, for good reason. Anyone who willingly inhales poison and deems it their right to inflict it on everyone else and leave a dirty mess behind them, aint worth that much. So, go rant and rave and justify your position…but really…c’mon already.
Hey, can someone tell me where I CAN smoke and have a drink together. No lectures please. I go out rarely and only smoke when I drink. By the way, I know alot of people that do this.
Do you think we could have a Smokers Only lounge and non-smokers not allowed. But is that legal?
People if you want to quit then quit. No will power without thought of jail or fines? Join the rest of the smokers world.
But what most people fail to realize is… Who in the heck is the government to tell me or you or whoever what is and isn’t good for me and enforce their “money grabbing laws” on top of taxing me up the wazzoo? Pollution and chemicals in your food are more dangerous. ( aspartame, high fructose yet even your kids eat that)No smoking in hospital? That’s common sense and understandable…
When governments dictate what you can and cannot do in regard to matters such as this they become DICTATORS. Hitler banned smoking. One of the first rights he took away. Also not allowed within a certain amount of feet from entry ways. hmmmmmmmm neat fact huh?
Look at every other ridiculous law that it passed. You can’t do this you can’t do that. And no smoking all in the guise of “health” Do you really think the government really cares if you drop dead from lung cancer?
Maybe people should ban walking across the street without government holding peoples hands and looking both ways for them because it can be dangerous and lead to death by a car hitting them. Now in homes they are aiming? If I pay huge rent or mortgage for landlord or buy my own home for a half a million I should be able to die of lung cancer if I so choose and they should be happy I paid their over priced mortgage for them while I was alive and the taxes on every pack of cigarettes.
Am so tired of it every where no this no that! Being overweight is unhealthy are they being banned? Ban smoking then raise taxes on them, then raise taxes even more once illegal to do so anywhere but keep the cigarette legal. OK It’s only a money plow i the guise of sympathy for a non smoker. Period.
I will however find something to complain about just to make it illegal so non smokers can have a taste. WAIT Starbucks. I will find a way to make coffee illegal! watch.. I am tired of not being able to live my life. This coming from fact that soon I won’t be able to smoke in my own house.
Make baggy pants that show butt illegal. Make womens jeans that show all illegal. That’s more disgusting than cigarettes in my living room or outside.
You know why they are banning on patios and outside now? Because no one fought the first ban. You don’t fight one they keep taking more and more because they know they can. Believe me after smoking it will be something else. Because they can! And they want ticket money that we are dumb enough to hand over via fines.
Are they going to ban psychotic people soon? I hope so because people go bananas with out a cigarette. Ever seen a cranky miserable person and wonder what devil got into him? Probably didn’t have a cigarette.
If they want to ban a smoker they better ban the product. But they won’t they’ll lose tax money by the multi millions from the producer and the smoker and the fines they will now collect.
Would rather die of lung cancer and not be told how to live my life by everyone else. The worst part? I don’t blow my smoke in peoples faces because I have manners, even to strangers. But most people don’t have that live and let live respect anymore or manners. They would rather blow “smoke up peoples !@##.
I agree make some bars smoking and some not so EVERYONE has an option. one is not more important than the other. Especially if we pay so much to do it. The non payer has the rights go figure!
I have to say that the smoking ban does not bother me in the slightest…however, it is leading to very militant behaviour. Here’s how, I bought a condo 7 years ago, I did my due diligence and bought a suite that had no smoking prohibitions. As well, it had a balcony on which I could smoke. Well, my previous neighbours complained that the smoke travelled up to their suite and bothered them. So, being neighbourly I told them I would no longer smoke on my balcony, only in my suite. It pissed me off because I did my due diligence and bought in a building that allowed smoking. Nevertheless, I complied…wanted to keep the peace and all. Well, last month a new couple bought that suite….they sent me a note instructing me that if I am to smoke I must close all patios doors and windows. What the hell is going on here!! It is my home and now this guy is telling me how I can live within my own four walls….he bought in a building that does NOT ban smoking; yet he thinks he is well within his rights to tell me how to live. Where will it end?? I don’t want people invading my private space telling me what I can and cannot do in that space! and please remember, smoking is legal!!!
Human being have been surrounded with smoke since the stone age. Now, something very natural to humans has been taken away in most places and we are seeing the consequences.
800% more children have asthma (smoke was once used to cure asthma and some still do so today, like one of my best friends and some doctors who did not loose this wisdom) The link is quite obvious. It seems nuts to people today, because we have all been repeatedly told that smoking can only be bad for us. What happens when a lie is continuously repeated? People believe it. Same thing for the cannabis plant, which is a proven cure for cancer and most diseases, but unavailable to us.
Smoke also protects the lungs against radiation and this is has been proven. My lungs actually develop a layer which protects them against many toxins and cancer causing agents, which we can’t say for non smokers.
Cancer rates have been sky rocketing, though they try to hide it by playing around with their unscientifical stats.
The facts are that most of the oldest people in the world are smokers. Countries with the highest life expectancy rate, also have the highest smoker rate ! In Japan, 64% of men smoke. Yet, they have less cancer then us and live longer. This is true for many countries. The Eskimos have zero lung cancer cases and are heavy smokers.
People have been brainwashed and are afraid of a little cigarette, while they are not at all afraid to breathe in the polluted air caused by cars.
Before the anti-smoking hysteria all began, scientist and doctors were positive that pollution was the cause of lung cancer. Not because tab companies were paying them, though this was true in some cases, but because it was obvious that where you found less diesel, you found less lung cancer. The same can be said today. Just look at the stats. You will be surprised to see just how much the governement contradicts itself, or will you?? lol..
You will also have a hard time finding these stats, which I don’t know if I can post here, because such causes of embarrassment are usually well hidden, but they can be found.
Second hand smoking is shown to cause nothing, yet they continue to spread this lie, which would never be accepted in a court of law because of studies showing otherwise or because of anti-smoking nazis playing around with the data. No judge will accept such behavior, but we sure do.
Liked the smoking ban? Hope you will also enjoy the upcoming fat, sugar and alcohol bans from our nazi nannies.
But alcohol can harm others ! So why should anyone be allowed to enjoy it right?
I’m not telling anyone to smoke. I have heard some weird underground things. But do look up the studies as for health problems after having quit if you do. They do not warn us, but the number of heart attack is quite alarming when smokers quit. Maybe quitting slowly helps? I do not know …
I’m merely trying to defend my fellow smokers, who deserve to enjoy their smoke without going through alienation or psychological violence of any kind.
Why the nazi’s? Because Hitler was the first to do a smoking ban !
and like in most cases, no significant health improvements were observed.
Please do not participate in the smoker hating campaign, as that is all it is.
Please look up non-governement or commercial funded sources before believing anything you hear.
There are some good doctors out there, who see the lies. Not only them, but scientists, lawyers and statistician.
This started in the states and is now being imposed upon most of the world, or so they are trying. Do you really want to be part of it?
you are all stupid, suck on a car exhaust, i agree on the smoking bylaw, but cars should be ban plus farting in public, it is all bad shit for all ha ha have a shitty day
The smoking ban is driving me nuts! I like to smoke cigars and as a courtesy to my neighbours, I used to take my dog for a walk on the beach and light up a cigar to enjoy with my coffee. I would walk to the quietest part of the beach, find a spot where no one was around and enjoy my smoke. Now, I can’t do it any longer without having to watch out for some Parks Board Officer or a Police Officer.
Why should I have to feel like a criminal for enjoying a little down time with a product that I can buy legally? The result: I now smoke on my deck which means that my neighbours, who like to enjoy fresh air, have to close their sliding door and windows above my deck while I ‘enjoy’ my cigar.
The day they ban smoking in residences is the day I will have to seriously reconsider living in Vancouver.
I’m currently renting a NON SMOKING suite in langley, however the people upstairs insist on smoking (they convinced the landlord they’d smoke outside – of course they don’t), the landlord is doing nothing to enforce his OWN regulations. Now I’m being forced to move with my two young kids and wife, because we don’t want to be subjected to the lovely smell of second hand smoke that we come home to and live in every day.