When the bylaw gets final approval, the list of places you can鈥檛 smoke will include: parks, playgrounds, playing fields, bus stops, public squares, mountain peaks and beaches in parks. It also extends the non-smoking area around doors, windows and air intakes to seven metres from three.
The doorway expansion, some argue, means it will be almost impossible to smoke on most downtown sidewalks. These days, about the only place you can smoke unmolested is at home or in your car 鈥� as long as no one under 16 is in the vehicle.
While some say the increasing restrictions are draconian, they reflect society鈥檚 unwillingness to put up with the clouds of smoke that were once a fact of life.
Anyone who has been to Europe lately knows how much Victoria鈥檚 air has improved. Walking into the blue fog of a restaurant in many European countries is like stepping back in time.
In the 53 countries that make up the World Health Organization鈥檚 European region, an average of 27 per cent of residents smoke, the highest rate in the world. Compare that to sa国际传媒, where about 13.2 per cent of British Columbians smoked in 2012, according to Health sa国际传媒, about three percentage points lower than the national figure. About 11 per cent in Greater Victoria smoke.
The CRD held three public hearings, where 80 per cent of those who attended supported the changes. With that kind of support, staff expect that most people will follow the rules.
Nancy Falconer of the Canadian Cancer Society鈥檚 sa国际传媒 and Yukon Division says most people want to obey the laws and just need to know what they are. Indeed, it鈥檚 rare to see anyone ignoring a no-smoking sign, and Island Health has not handed out a single ticket in the past two years.
Will smokers be as restrained in the wilderness of a regional park where few eyes are watching? CRD staff hope they will.
If you call to complain about a scofflaw smoker, don鈥檛 expect a lights-and-sirens response. Island Health鈥檚 tobacco control officers, who enforce the regulations, will take the educational approach that has worked in the past and has yielded a 98 per cent compliance rate.
Victoria Coun. Ben Isitt鈥檚 was one voice raised against the new regulations, arguing that while it makes sense to restrict smoking in urban areas where people are at close quarters, the wilderness should be free.
Falconer argues that prohibiting smoking in public places does more than protect people from secondhand smoke. It also encourages smokers to quit or reduce their smoking. Island Health points to studies that suggest restricting the places where people can smoke prompts more people to quit.
With smoking rates so low in Victoria, it鈥檚 easy to forget that researchers calculated that in 2012, 967 million people around the world smoked every day, almost 250 million more than in 1980.
Fortunately, while the total number is going up, the percentage of people who smoke is going down, with 31 per cent of men and six per cent of women around the world still lighting up every day.
Smoking is legal, but that doesn鈥檛 make it safe or wise. Smokers have decided that the pleasure they get from a cigarette is worth the risk of cancer, heart disease and a host of other illnesses. They can live with that decision. Non-smokers can live without it.
