409 replies to this topic

[osmich]

Can you imagine a smoke-free entry to the doors at Royal Jubilee Hospital? I mean what a concept. Nobody hooked up to IV's and oxygen tanks puffing away.

The nurses who take care of their lung cancer patients will have to smoke off the property. Well, I hope that doesn't put them out too much.

Yes I am a reformed smoker and very happy that I was able to do something about it. I am lucky that I was only an occasional smoker and not completely hooked. It is not completely about the people who are addicted to it, it is the tobacco manuafacturers and government who still allow the selling of these killer sticks.

[victorian fan]

Still, I was glad to hear there is some allowance for hospice patients.

[Rob Randall]

Tony Gioventu:

Butting out a smoking hot issue for stratas

As of March 31, 2008, under the Tobacco Control Act, smoking is prohibited in places customarily available to the public, which could include a strata's common property areas, such as elevators, hallways, parkades, common rooms like reception areas and swimming pools, laundries and lobbies or buffer zones around public areas, such as doorways or adjacent patios or entries.

The Heart and Stroke Foundation of B.C. and Yukon is developing a project to address second-hand smoke in multi-unit dwellings, and is seeking input on an important survey. You can complete the survey by going to this web page: http://ws4.voxco.com...ne/NRG/25380993. The deadline is March 25.

[Nparker]

As of March 31, 2008, under the Tobacco Control Act, smoking is prohibited in places customarily available to the public, which could include a strata's common property areas, such as elevators, hallways, parkades, common rooms like reception areas and swimming pools, laundries and lobbies or buffer zones around public areas, such as doorways or adjacent patios or entries.

I know I am gonna catch hell from some on this, but I think this is a fantastic idea. I wouldn't want to have to police it in my strata, but still I commend the concept. I don't smoke so why should I have to breath in second-hand smoke from the balcony or doorway next to mine? If you must smoke do so within the confines of your interior space. If you don't like the smell of smoke inside your unit, and so you choose to smoke on you patio or balcony, then you should probably quit the filthy habit altogether anyway.

[osmich]

This is good news and still does not go far enough. March 31 will bring many changes in how and where people by cigarettes and of course where they are able/allowed to smoke them.

The sooner the government goes into recovery over it's addiction with tobacco revenues the better we will be as a society, well at least my society of non-smokers.

[G-Man]

What people do in their own abode is their business. Especially if it is a legal practice.

I am allergic to perfumes but I do not say that people have to use unscented products everywhere in the world. I deal with it personally.

Rules give me the creeps.

[osmich]

Hey there,

Just noticed when you go onto this thread there are ads that show up for http://www.smokershelpline.ca but it is in Ontario and tha ad is from the Government of Ontario.

How can that be?

Thanks.

[Caramia]

Someone should look into the mechanisms of google ads. I assume you just choose a pool of ads and anyone who has paid for ad space in that pool has a chance for keywords on the page to trigger their ad? However a lot of our ads do seem to be local. Do you think that is just because of the word Victoria all over?

[osmich]

Old Morris on Government, along with all other tobacco retailers, will soon have to comply with the latest tobacco display rules that come into effect March 31, 2008. What does that mean to them? Well, I called them and they said they have not figured anything out as of yet but they will comply.

They most likely will have to darken their windows or put curtains up on the windows and door so that nobody can see the cigarettes on display. Also, that door will have to be closed all the time unless they cover up all the tobacco products on the walls.

[Holden West]

I'm not sure about all this. I think it gives tobacco that 'forbidden fruit' aspect when you hide it away. Remember way back when the Garden of Eden sex store was in Nootka Court and the windows were completely papered over? Now that everything's out in the open, it's meh....

Hiding it away like a bootlegger's speakeasy just gives it mysterious credibility. Right now, tobacco could hardly be less glamourous.

[Mike K.]

^good call.

[Caramia]

yeah I think this is going too far

[Mike K.]

Shouldn't we make a law the prevents needle exchanges from being located across the street from elementary schools?

This nanny state of ours is like a grandmother who scalds her grandchild for trying his father's beer while herself drunk on "medicinal" brandy.

[osmich]

If we enact a law re: needle exchange so kids don't see the plight of drugs on humans then should we not enact laws so that kids cannot see adults smoking and then thinking it is cool, light up themselves? Shouldn't we be taking an intiative as adults to conceal the dangers of cigarettes by keeping them out of sight, out of mind for kids? What about smoking butts in the car with the kids in the backseat? Same goes for the needles in your argument so I see no difference.

Cigarettes are just as much a danger (when adults or kids are in control) as needles are.

[Mike K.]

Junk food is just as much a danger as cigarettes are. So what now, do we enact laws to cover chip bags at the grocery store?

The point here is that cigarettes are legal, and heroin not so much. And what's more frightening is it's far easier for a child to acquire illegal drugs than cigarettes so we're really making inroads as a society by demanding curtains over cigarette shelves, aren't we?

[osmich]

I agree with you Mike on your points.

They are starting to do something about the junk food situation as they have banned it in vending machines, changed what can be sold at fundraisers (eg pizza and hotdogs) and changing the menus at schools that offer food at the cafeterias. That is a start. Pulling chips off the shelves would be another great move.

Cigarette laws are changing drastically for a reason. 86% of the population of Canada does not smoke and that percentage was much lower before they started really changing the laws. The laws are working and people are quitting and LOVING IT. Many people want to quit the butts and the new laws are incentive to do so.

The drug situation is mind boggling and it would be in the best interest of everyone, not just the school kids, including those with addiction issues to clean this up.

[G-Man]

More than 86% doesn't shoot drugs either.

I think hiding things away is the wrong thing to do.

Teen smoking is already going down so I would stop freaking out.

[Holden West]

I was amused to see that a corner store, just across from Spectrum Secondary and Marigold Elementary schools has a nice display case of rolling papers, bongs and assorted drug paraphernalia for all to see. Oh, well--as long as they can't see the junk food in the vending machines.

[Ms. B. Havin]

I have to admit that this picture (and the article) grossed me out; the caption says "This Bloor St. snowbank is an ashtray for a winter's worth of smokes."



The article, Leavings of smoker nest blacken high-end Bloor by Jack Lakey, is in today's Toronto Star. I'm left with two conclusions: 1. people are swine; 2. there's not enough enforcement to make them follow rules (or be courteous). That is, we think that we can get people to be courteous by asking them to be that way, but -- to get back to the first point -- if you don't put a bit of stick about, it seems no one bothers after a while, and you're left with what the article describes.

Here's an excerpt:

Most people agree that personal responsibility is essential to a civil society – as long as it applies to the other guy.
(...)
While checking out a problem recently near the northeast corner of Bloor and Bay Sts., we spotted a snowbank bristling with hundreds of soggy cigarette butts. Mild weather had melted the top layer of snow to reveal the sickening collection underneath.

Standing in the nearby doorway of an upscale retailer were two people puffing away on smokes with no coats on, which suggested they were employees. They flicked their butts onto the snowbank when they finished and went inside.
(...)
Susan Masterson-Read emailed to say receding snow has revealed an equally revolting problem – unharvested dog doo along a pathway in Dentonia Park, near Danforth and Victoria Park Aves.

She copied us on an email sent to Councillor Janet Davis, in which she pointed out the park gets used by countless children who live in the surrounding highrises.

"Every five feet or so along the pathway to the Victoria Park subway station there are dog droppings. The volume is increasing daily. Because of the many snowfalls, the feces are now layering.

"When the warm weather hits, the condition of the pathway and surrounding area will become an intolerable health hazard."

Davis' assistant replied to the email, saying the mess will get cleaned up soon by parks workers. But is it really their job?

[UrbanRail]

That is a sad article.