Smoke and fears: A ban isn’t that simple
Anti-tobacco advocate leery of Montreal suburb’s plan to snuff smoking in public
MONTREAL — A Montreal suburb’s plan to ban all smoking in public places is drawing mixed reactions, with one anti-tobacco advocate saying it will do more harm than good when it comes to second-hand smoke.
Hampstead city council adopted a draft bylaw this week that would prohibit tobacco or marijuana smoking on municipal property, including sidewalks and streets.
If the bylaw is enacted, Hampstead would become the first municipality in the country to ban smoking in the street, according to the Canadian Cancer Society.
The bylaw, which could come into effect following a second vote in April, does not prohibit electronic cigarettes or smoking in cars.
Mayor William Steinberg said the law would protect people’s health and send a strong anti-smoking message.
He said the city was prompted to act by the federal plan to legalize recreational marijuana on July 1, which is worrisome to some of the town’s 7,000 residents.
“Both tobacco and pot, we don’t want it happening in public,” Steinberg said. “One of the reasons is second-hand smoke, which is harmful, especially for the elderly, for people with lung diseases and for young people.
“The second reason is example. … Young kids are still taking it [tobacco] up. And when it comes to the legalization of pot, we definitely have concerns about more young people smoking pot.
“So we don’t want to have people setting a bad example. We don’t want groups of teenagers or young adults going around smoking joints in our parks or on streets and sidewalks.”
Steinberg denied suggestions that the bylaw will be too draconian for the upscale residential town, which has no stores or office buildings.
“If somebody wants to smoke a cigarette, they can smoke it on their property,” he said.
But a spokesman for a non-smokers’ rights group said he believes the regulation will do more harm than good.
François Damphousse said the law will force more people to smoke indoors, which is much more damaging to the health of those around them.
“We have been working for decades to try to control smoking indoors, and we want people to go smoke outdoors, and now they can’t even go smoke outdoors,” he said.
He said most complaints about secondhand smoke come from tenants or landlords who are bothered by smoking in their buildings, and he expects the number of those complaints to increase if other cities follow Hampstead’s lead.
Michael Bryant of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association said the bylaw discriminates against low-income people, who are more likely to be smokers and less likely to own private residences.
“The social science is clear that while smoking has gone down for the well-off, it continues to be somewhat medicinal for the poor,” Bryant said in an interview.
“The effect is going to be that economically disadvantaged people are being pushed out of that community.”
Rob Cunningham, a senior policy analyst with the Canadian Cancer Society, said other cities will follow Hampstead’s lead, especially as they grapple with how to handle the legalization of marijuana.
He said legal recreational pot will be a “prompt” for cities to address the issue.