Ban on e-cigarettes shows leadership on important issue
Pointe-Claire is the latest West Island municipality to ban the use of e-cigarettes in public places. And hopefully this trend will continue. The bans are a great way for cities and towns to show leadership on a very important issue: public health.
It has taken a lot of time and a lot of effort by a lot of organizations and individuals to get the message across that smoking regular cigarettes is simply not cool.
But now e-cigarettes threaten to put the cool back into the act of smoking. And that is a road that does not lead anywhere worthwhile. The question of whether they are harmful or not does not matter.
You say cigarettes and e-cigarettes are not related? They are. Both are habits. Both create a culture that says smoking is acceptable.
I witnessed an example just last weekend.
I was having dinner on a restaurant terrace along the boardwalk in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue last Sat- urday evening. It was a beautiful night and the place was packed. At a nearby table, three young men who had finished their meal pulled out electronic cigarettes and started vaping.
They turned a few heads. Everyone now recognizes that smoking in a restaurant, even on a terrace, is not acceptable. But they were allowed to do it.
The table right next to them emptied. It was quickly filled by four people who were promptly given menus. After they placed their drink orders, while chatting among themselves, they noticed the men at the neighbouring table vaping. This, as it appeared, prompted two of the four people waiting to place their food orders to pull out their cigarettes and start smoking. Yup, right there, while others were eating.
A waitress arrived at their table and told them they could not smoke. There were a few objections. And, unsurprisingly, the smokers were quick to point out that others were “smoking.”
Shortly after the waitress left, the real-cigarette smokers left.
The debate over where people can and should smoke does not need to be reopened. Smoking — whether it is with tobacco cigarettes or electronic devices — does not belong is shared spaces.