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EDITORIAL: Butt out at city events

If you’re planning on attending a city event, don’t light up. That’s the message council sent to smokers on Monday night, when they unanimously voted to ban smoking at city organized public events.

If you’re planning on attending a city event, don’t light up.

That’s the message council sent to smokers on Monday night, when they unanimously voted to ban smoking at city organized public events.

This new policy follows the lead of the Thunder Bay Blues Festival, which earlier this year decided to implement a smoke-free policy within its grounds.

This appears to be the start of a positive trend, helping to ensure a pleasant and welcoming environment for all in attendance.
This has already been the case for at least one major city event. The Teddy Bear’s Picnic, an annual summer family event, has been smoke-free since 2011 with minimal opposition.

Non-smokers can’t choose whether a person in their proximity will smoke. It’s only the person lighting up who can make that decision.

It shouldn’t be up to a non-smoker to move or avoid attending an event because somebody else decides to puff.

This policy is all about respect and courtesy.

Besides, it’s not as if smokers are being directly banned from events. There will be designated smoking areas where they can still smoke, but it won’t affect non-smokers. Yes, it is a bit of an inconvenience for a few, but an improvement for the many.

 





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