More restrictions are being added to the Smoke-Free Ontario Act, with Peel Public Health pushing for a ban on smoking in apartments and condos. Legislation protecting residents in multi-unit dwellings from exposure to second-hand smoke, is the ultimate goal of the health unit.
Smoking in enclosed spaces like public places and workplaces, are already prohibited under the Smoke-Free Ontario Act. But, Queen's Park is being pushed by Peel to change act so it includes condos and apartment buildings, as well.
To keep landlords and residents informed, the health unit is looking to create educational resources, like a web page. This would also suggest to landlords that they have the right to declare their buildings smoke-free.
There are soon to be a lot of unhappy smokers in Canada, especially with the temperatures being as low as they are, they will be left with very few options as to where to have a smoke.
[Via: ctv.ca]
At the maximum security Hakea Prison in Perth, Australia, as of Monday smoking will be banned in cells. This has prison officers fairly worried as they are afraid tensions will rise once the ban is imposed in the already overcrowded jails.
As of next week inmates at Hakea will no longer be permitted to smoke in their cells during the day, as a part of the Department of Corrective Services' smoking reduction policy, according to John Welch, secretary of the WA Prison Officers Union.
Though an agreement was reached by the union that passive smoking could pose potential harm to its members, Welch said that the more pressing concern was that the already tense inmates would be further aggravated if they were not allowed to smoke. Due to these fears, it has been decided that the ban would be introduced gradually - first by banning smoking during daylight hours. The inmates will still be able to smoke outside of the units, but this could also be banned in the future.
Any comments? Is this great news or simply stupid. I vote for the latter…
[Via: watoday.com.au]
Smokers are fighting an uphill battle to maintain even a little of their freedom of rights, from West Virginia to the West Coast, and seems that officials might be listening. Some smoking bans have even been rescinded of postponed. In some cases, this occurs more often than officials actually declining to implement a ban.
Those against smoking feel that these so-called set backs are only a result of the struggling economy. They feel that local government are afraid to impose new costs and are wary of burdening bars or restaurants which might already be struggling.
U.S. regional director of the Citizens Freedom Alliance, Gary Nolan says, "The economy is in a slump, and these bans almost always hurt the shot-and-beer-type bars and some restaurants." He added, "If times are trying now in the hospitality industry, you're compounding that by telling bar owners they can't cater to their own crowd."
But even with these worries on the detrimental aspect of smoking bans, they are still going forward in most parts of the country and now they are even moving outdoors, to parks and beaches, which is awkward to say the least.
As associate director of Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights Bronson Frick says, "For opponents, it's never a good time to do this, whether the economy is bad or good, the smoke-free initiative is continuing, though."
[Via: seattlepi.com]
Earlier it had been said that a plan to ban smoking in the parks and beaches needed to be looked at, but Mayor Bloomberg stated he is going to push ahead anyway.
Bloomberg told the Bay Terrace Community Alliance at a campaign forum in northeast Queens on Wednesday night, "The public is overwhelmingly in favor of banning it in parks as well, so, you know, we'll get that done."
Initially, the mayor balked at the idea proposed by Health Commissioner Thomas Farley as he felt that enforcement of the ban would be too difficult.
But this Wednesday, Bloomberg's opinion seemed to have changed, "If you're in the middle of a park by yourself in the middle of the night, I suppose nobody else is breathing that smoke, but if you're there with other people playing around, those people breathe it."
The change of heart seems to come after Bloomberg's opponent Controller William Thompson told the group that if he were elected he would pursue the ban.
Thompson said, "The concept of a smoke-free park makes sense to me." Does it really? In that sense a concept for car-free roads makes even more sense. This is so stupid…
[Via: nydailynews.com]
In the past, most believed the words of the tobacco executives that smoking was not addictive and that cigarettes did not contain carcinogens. Today, the FDA controls tobacco products, but Americans and the rest of the world has not learned its lesson. It should not be forgotten that the people who protect us from tobacco should not be followed blindly either.
It was announced recently that the Food and Drug Administration would be banning the sale of fruit and candy flavored cigarettes. Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said, "These flavored cigarettes are a gateway for many children and young adults to become regular smokers." She went on to say that this ban will "break that cycle of addiction for more than 3,600 young people who start smoking daily."
The problem is that children will go to great lengths to get themselves in trouble. If they are not experimenting with cigarettes, it is in their nature they will get addicted to something else. Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds and Lorillard are the nation's biggest tobacco companies, and they do not even sell flavored cigarettes. Most flavored cigarettes have long been off the market. Most major producers of tobacco only use menthol in their cigarettes, and this is the only flavor that has not been banned. Go figure.
[Via: townhall.com]
