Anti-smoking advocates worry about ‘loopholes’ and legal pot issues
A decade after Alberta banned smoking in the workplace, frustration persists for a coalition of health organizations over “loopholes” they say leave workers in the hospitality industry exposed to second-hand smoke.
And with marijuana legalization coming this year, they’re concerned vulnerable workers will face added health risks on the job.
“The hazards associated with second-hand cannabis are similar to those with second-hand smoke,” said public health physician Dr. Brent Friesen, who served as Calgary’s chief medical officer of health from 1999 to 2008. “Burning cannabis, smoking cannabis, releases the same toxic chemicals as when you burn tobacco.”
Friesen said Jan. 1, 2008, marked a major victory when the province implemented the Tobacco and Smoking Reduction Act.
But he was disappointed that exemptions remained for the hospitality industry, allowing smoking to continue in hotel guest rooms, long-term-care facilities and hookah bars.
“We know that when the legislation went into place in 2008 and created smoke-free workplaces, that really resulted in a number of people deciding to quit smoking. They had an environment that they were working in where they weren’t being exposed to triggers that would cause them to want to smoke,” Friesen said Tuesday at Hotel Arts, a hotel that is smokefree. “We’re now at a stage where we need to provide that uniform protection for all people.”
Joined by representatives from the Heart and Stroke Foundation, Canadian Cancer Society, Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, and Action on Smoking and Health, the Campaign for a SmokeFree Alberta coalition called on the province to close those loopholes, which they say place workers with asthma, allergies and heart disease at greater risk from the effects of second-hand smoke.
“According to Health Canada, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the World Health Organization, there is no safe level of exposure to second-hand smoke,” said Kate Chidester, vicepresident of health and research for the Heart and Stroke Foundation.
Les Hagen, executive director of Action on Smoking and Health, said he’s surprised the NDP government hasn’t been more responsive to the concerns.
“This government, of all governments, should be standing up for Albertans in precarious employment. I expect better from this government on this issue,” Hagen said.
“When we’ve talked to them about it, the response we get is, ‘well, we’ll deal with it eventually,’ but they’re running out of time. We’ve got cannabis legalization coming soon and it’s yet another reason we need to move on this issue sooner rather than later.”
Under the province’s cannabis
We’re now at a stage where we need to provide that uniform protection for all people.
framework, Albertans will be allowed to consume cannabis in some public spaces where smoking tobacco is allowed.
“They asked all the health organizations for their advice on how they should structure the cannabis act,” Hagen said.
“We all said, ‘don’t allow the smoking of this product in any indoor environment’ and they went ahead and did it anyway.”
But the Alberta government hasn’t yet made a final decision on whether “cannabis cafes or lounges” will be allowed, a spokesperson for Health Minister Sarah Hoffman said in an email.
“When and if they are allowed, a further decision will need to be made about what kind of cannabis consumption can happen within those businesses,” the email said.
“We are awaiting more information from the federal government about how it plans to regulate edible cannabis products before we move forward with provincial plans.”
In a statement, Hoffman said the government is committed to protecting Albertans’ health and safety.
“We’ve been proud to work with the Campaign for a Smoke-Free Alberta on our shared goal of reducing tobacco use by Albertans — work which was recognized with a Global Leadership Award for banning menthol cigarettes,” Hoffman said. “We’ll continue working with our partners to ensure that Albertans have healthy, supportive workplaces and that we continue to reduce the health harms associated with tobacco.”
Last month, the government passed Bill 30, which, among other occupational health and safety changes, makes it easier to refuse unsafe work.
But Hagen said allowing people to smoke pot indoors would contradict the intent of that bill.
“We believe the exposure to second-hand smoke on the job represents unsafe work,” said James Hart, vice-president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees.
“However, people should not be required to file individual complaints for such obvious health and safety violations.
“It is impossible to justify any form of smoking in the workplace in this day and age.”