Dawson Creek Bans Smoking in Outdoor Places
Prince George, B.C. – Dawson Creek has become the first Northern community to pass a bylaw banning smoking from a number of outdoor sites.
Prince George may not be far behind.
Building on existing provincial smoking bans, the Dawson Creek bylaw prohibits smoking in the outdoor customer service areas of restaurants, in playgrounds, trails, plazas, playing fields and recreation facilities and venues, as well as all of Rotary Lake Park. The new bylaw also establishes a buffer zone of 7.5 metres around these venues as well as around the public entrances of public buildings.
The Dawson Creek move brings to 31 the number of municipalities in B.C. that have enacted smoke-free bylaws that exceed the provincial standards. Although the only community in Northern B.C. to enact such a bylaw, smoking rates in Northern BC are about 10% higher than rates in the rest of the province.
Prince George has been approached by the Canadian Cancer Society to develop its own bylaw banning smoking from a variety of properties including transit shelters, trails and parks. In late September of 2014 Council unanimously approved a resolution calling for staff to prepare a draft bylaw for preliminary discussion purposes, together with a public consultation process with the various stakeholders.
The “Enhanced Outdoor Tobacco Bylaw” has yet to be presented to Prince George City Council, but staff indicated the resulting bylaw would have a public hearing and need to be approved by both the Ministry of Health and Northern Health before it would be enacted.
Comments
Too funny. PG can’t even enforce their existing bylaws.
Smoking should be banned in public everywhere, not just a 7.5m buffer.
Who is going to enforce this?
The circus olla event I went to had 200 smokers outside at intermission, times that by how many shows were put on.
The City better think long and hard about lost revenue.
Waaaa and all the bars and restuarants will go broke when they ban indoor smoking! Next!
Haha right. People are not going to listen to this well because a lot of smokers don’t even abide the no smoking law outside public buildings and smoke wafts on over. Especially at Pine Centre, blasted staff and customers smoking right outside the doors. Gross.
When will the UHNBC
ban smoking at their exits?
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
Then they came for the smokers…….
No, Digitus Impudicus, then they came for all your freedoms.
That and right after medical researchers have suggested that getting cancer is probably more bad luck than anything else.
In other words, they could find no real correlation to causes to be able to pinpoint anything.
Posted on Tuesday, January 6, 2015 @ 7:45 AM by Furbink
No, Digitus Impudicus, then they came for all your freedoms.
———
Allowing you to blow toxins in my face is a freedom? Good grief! What an amazing sense of entitlement you have!
Does freedom = no laws? Abolish the laws and see what happens. Everyone left to fight for their own freedoms/rights? Even a pack of wolves has its own laws.
Health concerns aside with regards to smoking, why the hell does anybody WANT to smoke in the first place? You stink, you have bad breath, discolours your teeth and visibly ages a person prematurely.
What’s the upside?
There is no upside. I used to be a smoker. I can’t even stand to be next to a smoker now, the smell is disgusting. The stench gives me an instant headache and nausea. I am appalled that I used to smell like that. Yuck.
smoking is an addiction no one wants to smoke. there is no upside. Why does the government sell them to us???why does the government make money selling this stuff? we will provide the poison for your addiction then ban smoking but not the cigarettes? then we will try to ban things that help people quit smoking (vaporizer pen things) because we don’t want to lose the revenue. sounds like great policy
To say that no one wants to smoke is BS. Yes, it is an addiction, but I know many people who quit multiple times (myself included). When I ask why they restart? The answer is because “I like it”. They have quit, they know they can quit, they have gotten over the physical addiction of it and still manage to go back to it, some weeks, months, even years later.
@Pylot Project
I would suggest that a majority of smokers would be pleased to wake up one morning and never desire another cigarette.
The reasons why people start vary greatly. The reason why people continue is mainly addiction. Pretty straight forward.
Allowing you to blow toxins in my face is a freedom? Good grief! What an amazing sense of entitlement you have!
How ultra sensitive you are. What’s next……a ban on pollinating flowers!
So you get all bent out of shape furbink for a possible change to the bylaws and liken it to losing freedoms because of tyranny, and YOU call other people ultra sensitive. No, it was spelled out quite clear, you are of the generation who believes the world revolves around you and no one has a right to inconvenience you.
@just my opinion – “The reasons why people start vary greatly. The reason why people continue is mainly addiction. Pretty straight forward.”
What’s your point? My question was “pretty straight forward”. Why do people start? I’m quite well aware of the addictive properties of the product.
Boudicca: “smoking is an addiction no one wants to smoke. there is no upside. Why does the government sell them to us???why does the government make money selling this stuff?”
Why is it the government’s responsibility to be accountable for people’s bad decisions? If the government stopped selling cigarettes tomorrow, two things would happen; first, there would be mass smoker riots, and after that, they would eventually find a way to get them on the black market.
@Furbink
Did you just compare acting like a selfish human to the reproduction of flowers?
So you get all bent out of shape furbink for a possible change to the bylaws and liken it to losing freedoms because of tyranny, and YOU call other people ultra sensitive. No, it was spelled out quite clear, you are of the generation who believes the world revolves around you and no one has a right to inconvenience you.
You have obviously bought into the British class system, where we mere mortals NEED to be governed, and strictly so and on every aspect of life. Anyway generation do speak of?
@Furbink
Did you just compare acting like a selfish human to the reproduction of flowers?
Referencing more people seek medical attention due to pollen, not many rushing to Doctor when exposed to second hand smoke, whether it be from a cigarette or campfire.
@ Pylot Project
You did not actually ask “why do people start?” What you did ask was…
“why the hell does anybody WANT to smoke in the first place?”
and
“What’s the upside?”
I did not touch on my opinion of the upside, but I did pretty clearly touch on your question in regards to “want”. I suggested it was the strength of addiction as opposed to a “want”
As for your question about why people start smoking, the list of things people do that are not necessesarily pleasurable the first time around is long… for example,
smoking cigarettes
drinking coffee
drinking alcohol
lifting weights
sit-ups
having sex (for many women and sometimes men)
the list could go on and on
The problem with commenters like Furbink is they fail to understand the massive public health implications of cigarettes. Treatment of preventable diseases is a massive strain on our publicly funded health care system and severely diminishes the effectiveness of this system to treat people with genuine, non-preventable health issues. Any ban on smoking, is not infringing on rights. The fact that Furbink uses
Martin Niemöller’s “First they came for the Socialists…” quotation (which is a commentary on genocide) is truly inane. It is pathetic when people use such phrases to make themselves sound clever and intelligent.
Monkey see monkey do. If you are smoker with children chances are they will also pick up the nasty habit. So be a good roll model and do yourself and children a favor and quit. Positive benefits if you quit, you may live long enough to enjoy retirement and your grandchildren.
So peece, you are telling me I can’t smoke because it might cost you monetarily? Does it end there or are you willing to take that to another activity that jeopardizes ones health. By bet is it doesn’t end there, the British class system must control the serf, by what ever carrot they hang out.
I am fully aware of the economic and social implications of smoking cigarettes. I have no choice in the health care system we have but would never deny anyone for what ever reason access to it. I am not into schadenfreude.
Oh you smoke? Medical insurance denied.
Or ride a motorcycle, skydive, play hockey, run a jet boat in the rapids, fly on cheapo 3rd world airplanes it goes and goes.
Mav: “If you are smoker with children chances are they will also pick up the nasty habit. ”
My parents and grandparents and most of my relatives all smoke and/or smoked and I never once thought, “Hey, that seems like a great idea!”
Filthy expensive habit.
So Furbink, where does it say you can’t smoke? I like to target practice. Should I be able to go to the local park and set up a target and start firing away? Or do you think that may endanger other people and there outta be a law against it? There is a bylaw against discharging firearms in city limits. Do you think that is taking away our right to hunt?
Peece: Didn’t you hear? Cancer is not connected to smoking. Scientists are now saying “it’s just a persons bad luck, the cancer gene is in everyone’s body, whether you smoke or not”
I grew up in a house with second hand smoke for years, don’t have cancer,
that’s life.
To everyone else, put that in your pipe and smoke it………….
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