May 31st marks a historic day for all Ontarians – on this day, the Smoke-Free Ontario Act comes into effect. After years of developing and passing municipal smoke-free bylaws to achieve 100% smoke-free status, we are now a 100% smoke-free province. I congratulate the province for passing one of the strongest smoke-free laws in North America.
The new provincial legislation requires Ontario to be 100% smoke-free in all enclosed workplaces and public places. In addition, it will require tobacco retailers to greatly reduce their tobacco product displays. On May 31, 2008, these displays will be completely removed.
I'm very happy about this move for various reasons. But I'm curious as to what other Ontarians have to say about this. How about other cities around the world that has this by law in effect already, how has it impacted your city?
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2 comments:
They need to make it illegal. They need better programs to help people stop. They need to do this in a way that doesn't ostracize a segment of the population for doing something that was completely legal. Our government allowed for the sale of a highly addictive substance, now they should be providing more help to get them to stop.
People openly hate smokers. Is that fair to the addicted person?
I have quit twice and it's still a struggle. Maybe they should force the smoking industry to reduce the amount of addictive substances step by step until there is nothing left in cigarettes to cause addiction. The problem would solve itself.
Wait, that would mean the end of a very lucrative revenue stream for the government... so it's better to pass laws against it to restrict where they can smoke but not to restrict what is in what they smoke.
Yeah... tinfoil hat.
Well, they just passed a law similar to this in St. Louis a while back - all it really did was make for some boring television debates. I can kind of agree with banning smoking from inside public buildings, but I really don't see where a government gets off telling a business owner that it can't let it's customers smoke outdoors (on a patio or whatever). Obviously, smoking is unhealthy, but that doesn't mean I should be forcing everyone else to stop - suggesting, yes, but forcing by law? Nope.
Also, I agree with Sean about the addictive ingredients mixed into cigarettes - but as a side note, did you know that a person couldn't even smoke a whole cigarette made from real tobacco right off of the plant? It's so strong you'd be sicker than a dog - I've often thought that if cigarettes were made with pure tobacco, it would help people cut down or quit altogether because you simply COULDN'T smoke all day long. I'm about to start digressing, so I'll shut up now - have a good weekend Jimena! (And everybody else, too)
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