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Would Victoria, B.C., bylaw effectively ban smoking in the city?

Would Victoria, B.C., bylaw effectively ban smoking in the city?

Smokers in Victoria, B.C., could soon be pushed from the fringes of society and relegated to private properly, if they are lucky enough to own any, should a plan to expand the city's smoking bylaws come to pass.

Already among the strictest in the country, British Columbia's capital is considering expanding its laws, and could go so far as to include all public parks as well as seven-metre buffers around every door and window in the city.

The result would be a nearly-complete patchwork of smoke-free zones that would leave smokers without a legal place to light up, save for the confines of their homes and cars. And those who rent in non-smoking apartments and don't have cars? No cigarettes for them.

According to the National Post, some councillors are now pushing for the creation of safe zones where Victoria's smokes can "kill themselves in peace."

That comment comes from a local councillor who sympathizes with the region's approximately 30,000 smokers. Ben Isitt has urged the Capital Region District to tone down its proposed smoking ban. But Victoria is certainly not alone; the noose is tightening for smokers across Canada.

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In September, the Toronto Board of Health moved to ban smoking on city patios, near building entrances and sports fields as well as public squares, hospital grounds and swimming beaches.

Manitoba became the first province to ban smoking on public beaches and playgrounds last year, but every province has some level of public prohibition.

And many cities have outdoor bans to what Victoria is currently considering. Vancouver, for example, bans smoking in parks and public beaches, as well as along the seawall.

This table, compiled by the Non-Smoker's Rights Association in 2012, outlines all local bylaws that go beyond provincial standards.

So Victoria isn't casting its line into uncharted waters, though it may be aiming deeper. Which is where things get messy.

The ban on smoking within seven metres of any door or window is practically unheard of. It was called "nuts" in a recent editorial by the Times Colonist, and that may be an understatement.

That’s effectively a public-smoking ban in much of downtown, without a real debate. And it will inevitably have bad unintended consequences, such as clustering smokers in small pockets.

And that goes for public parks as well, perhaps the only places in town you can be sure not to be standing too close to a door or window.

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Smoking has always been an issue in which legislation has clashed with logic.

On one hand, the government permits, and some contend promotes, the idea of smoking by selling cigarettes in the first place. On the other hand, it demonizes the practice, sets lofty policies and, in cases such as Victoria, makes the practice almost entirely untenable.

Either smoking is so bad for the public that it should be prohibited outright, or it falls comfortably enough into the realm of personal freedoms that it should not be limited to the absolute fringes, leaving some people without access to safe smoking locations entirely. We can't allow it on one hand and disavow it on the other.

Defending the rights of smokers is a difficult stance for a non-smoker to take. Of all the vices we have in society, the health concerns of smoking are perhaps best known. The negative effects of second-hand smoke have been similarly established, not to mention the frustration of having the stench puffed wantonly into your mouth and eyes by those who simply don't care about others.

But while smoking may be a nasty vice, it is still a legal one. Laws that cleverly leave smokers without recourse or sanctuary essentially ban smoking without going through the messy process of actually banning smoking.

As snarky as it may be, people deserve the right to kill themselves in peace. If they don't, the government should stop selling them cigarettes. Until then, we have to make space for them somewhere.

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