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Man charged for spraying air freshener at smokers

Whether you’re a smoker yourself or not, you can probably appreciate that many people just can’t handle the smoke. Some worry, and rightly so, about the effects that being exposed to smoke may have on their long-term health, others feel like they can’t breathe around it, and others still don’t like the smell it leaves behind.

None of those are good reasons, though, to spray a smoker in the face with a can of air freshener.

69-year-old Hamilton resident Ed Steel is alleged to have sprayed Glade air freshener at smokers outside of Dundurn Place Care Centre in Hamilton recently and found himself charged with two counts of assault with a weapon.

While his approach is quite the wise crack in action, Steel actually had a strong reason for allegedly busting out the air freshener. His first wife died of a smoking-related illness, and because of that, he didn’t want to have to wheel his current common-law spouse through smoke at the front entrance, blighted by residents choosing to light up directly in front of the building.

The crazy part about the whole thing is that not only are there "no smoking" signs directly visible in front of the residence, Dundurn Place is the only long-term care facility in the city that actually allows smoking indoors, so there is an easy way for both smoke lovers and smoke haters to co-exist.

Although Steel’s supposed actions got him into hot water with the law (the facility’s administrator who witnessed his alleged crime used to be a police officer), he says he hopes things change and that it’s not all for nothing.

"It's illegal — there are signs right there. But it all just goes into a dead ear. Nothing happened."

For what it’s worth, smokers have been fined on at least 11 different occasions, so there have been penalties handed out for smoking in the area before.

While it remains to be seen if anything will change at the facility. Steel’s air freshening ways have at least brought the discussion to the forefront. Now the only thing left to ponder is whether a new smoked version of lemon-scented Glade will be popping up in stores anytime soon. Perhaps they could simply call it…Steel City?