Vancouver tells smokers to butt out at parks, beaches

[GAP]

Vancouver tells smokers to butt out at parks, beaches
Article Link
The Canadian Press  Sunday Apr. 18, 2010 8:27 AM ET

VANCOUVER — Vancouver's park board will vote on a plan Monday that would prohibit smoking in all public parks and beaches.

Park board commissioner Raj Hundal says the move makes sense on medical and environmental grounds.

Hundal says second-hand smoke is one of the leading causes of death in B.C. and cigarette butts can be an environmental headache because they become embedded in sand or wash up on shores.

But Robert Holmes, president of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, says the proposed ban is simply political grandstanding.

Holmes says there's no evidence that second-hand smoke in large outdoor areas creates a health risk and the park board has no business telling people how to live their lives.

Hundal says if the ban is approved by the park board, it will start being enforced this summer.
end

 

[SeanNewman]

I am all for that.

I know smokers will say "First at work, then at restaurants, now outside, what's next, in my own house?" but the reality is that if you're doing it near non-smokers it is still invasive to them and they have a right not to have it happen.

There are few things worse than trying to relax on a beach but having someone beside you smoke and having if drift up your nose when you'd rather be smelling ocean and tanning oil.  Even if it's not in high-enough doses to prove that it will cause the non-smoker, the point is that it is incredibly annoying and disgusting to them.  It would be like being allowed to flick someone in the ear indefinitely when they're trying to relax.

Litter is the reason they brought up in the article but that's almost secondary to me.

 

[vonGarvin]

I suppose then that you don't walk on city streets then, with all those cars pumping out carbon monoxide? 


People like nothing more than to be offended in order to feel self-righteous indignation.  Common courtesy is one thing, but outright bans are a waste of legislative effort.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

BC seems to be taking a page straight from McSquinty and the Bantario liebrals playbook.

Just BAN anything that any special interest group wishes. The majority of taxpayers, and existing laws, be damned.

At least I know it's not the fault of the local water supply. People on the other side of the country elect assholes to ruin our lives, on our own behalf, also.

 

[SeanNewman]

I suppose then that you don't walk on city streets then, with all those cars pumping out carbon monoxide?  People like nothing more than to be offended...

1.  You are a smoker and thus bias.  There is really no parallel to understand how much a non-smoker doesn't like the smell.

2.  You use cars as an example, but that is ridiculous.  Even though there is no true equal, it is also against the law to run around naked or swear like crazy and cause a disturbance.  And why?  Because it bothers other people.

 

[PMedMoe]

Oh, who cares?  Not like I'll be visiting any beaches or parks in Vancouver any time soon.  :

Besides, it's not a law.......yet.

Vancouver's park board will vote on a plan Monday that would prohibit smoking in all public parks and beaches

 

[armyvern]

I am all for that.

I know smokers will say "First at work, then at restaurants, now outside, what's next, in my own house?" but the reality is that if you're doing it near non-smokers it is still invasive to them and they have a right not to have it happen.

There are few things worse than trying to relax on a beach but having someone beside you smoke and having if drift up your nose when you'd rather be smelling ocean and tanning oil.  Even if it's not in high-enough doses to prove that it will cause the non-smoker, the point is that it is incredibly annoying and disgusting to them.  It would be like being allowed to flick someone in the ear indefinitely when they're trying to relax.

Litter is the reason they brought up in the article but that's almost secondary to me.

Wonder how healthy the dosage is of those sunrays beaming into the oiled up bod flaked out on the beach?

Sunscreen folks!! Everyone wear your sunscreen. Oil sucks ... and flaking out on beaches in it has also been shown to negatively affect ones health too.

I wear a burquha when on the beach (you know red-headed girl & history of ~). It's hard to smoke with it on though ...  ;D



This public service announcement brought to y'all by Vern the red headed burquha wearing bikinki B I K I N I; not bikinki, not bi-kinki, not bi-kinky ... B I K I N I girl.









[Edit:  That OK Vern?  > ]

 

[PMedMoe]

Holmes said it's ironic the park board will vote on the smoking ban just 18 hours before thousands of marijuana enthusiasts descend on downtown Vancouver to openly toke up to mark April 20.

As long as they don't toke on the beach or in a park, I guess it's okay, then.  ;D

 

[SeanNewman]

Marijuana is far less dangerous (and less addictive) than cigarette smoke, as seen by a quite reputable study done by the UK Medical Journal:

This really makes you wonder how it can possibly be illegal when cigarettes and alcohol are legal.

 

[PMedMoe]

Marijuana is far less dangerous (and less addictive) than cigarette smoke, as seen by a quite reputable study done by the UK Medical Journal:

This really makes you wonder how it can possibly be illegal when cigarettes and alcohol are legal.

You posted your link as an image.

This article states different:

http://www.ukcia.org/research/ComparingCannabisWithTobacco.php

But, we digress......

 

[SeanNewman]

I posted what I wanted to post (the graph).

Being in the medical field, are you honestly of the opinion that marijuana is worse overall for people than alcohol or cigarettes?

 

[armyvern]

There's already a thread on this site with the cigarette/marijuana debate going ... and umpteen thousand "official studies (including medical studies) that contradict themselves ...

Just saying



Ahhhh, here we go:

http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/28254/post-270253.html#msg270253


Edited to add link.

 

[Teeps74]

I too have two colours... White and cooked lobster red (oddly, my arms and face tan just fine, legs, chest and back?!). I go for the highest possible SPF rating every summer, and eagerly await the release of an SPF 1000, or full body zinc so I can actually have a safe time at the beach.    ;D

As an ex-smoker, I am afraid I am on Vancouver's side on this one.  I find the smell of the stuff to be disgusting now... Tho, I am not opposed to setting up designated areas, and placing butt cans there. Smokers are human too, and should be allowed to smoke should they choose to do so... Just don't be blowing the foul stuff all over everyone else.

 

[SeanNewman]

Fair enough (no more in this thread on the matter).

That being said, I'm still allowed to gripe about it because if marijuana were legal instead of alcohol, I would certainly do it on Friday nights instead of getting drunk, and I'd have a hell of a lot of money left over.

However, thems the rules so no marijuana, intercourse, and 2L of ice cream at a time for me (repeat cycle over and over) 

PS - Sunblock is ghey.  Every time I go out I cover myself with oil that actually multiplies UVA and UVB rays.  Brown skin and smells great, too!  People always look at me funny for putting it on my 3 year old daughter but they don't know what sort of pressure she's under in the modelling industry.

 

[George Wallace]

Or just go for a CHAT.

 

[armyvern]

PS - Sunblock is ghey.  Every time I go out I cover myself with oil that actually multiplies UVA and UVB rays.  Brown skin and smells great, too!  People always look at me funny for putting it on my 3 year old daughter but they don't know what sort of pressure she's under in the modelling industry.

Careful now, by the time she hits Teen Vogue modelling age --- she just may be able to sue you for child cruelty and neglect and for adversely affecting her health. And maybe too, by then, there will be a law preventing adults from subjecting their children to the beach and all suns rays as it can have negative affects on their health.  :-X

You know, they do say that kids who receive bad burns etc in their youth ... get bumped up in the risk group for developing skin cancer later in their lives.

 

[SeanNewman]

George,

No requirement...if Vern says that there is already another thread on it I trust her.

There are some things I am passionate enough about to spend extra time on, but the marijuana vs tobacco debate is not one of them.

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming of how stupid cigarettes are and why they should be banned...

Vern,

T'was a joke, my friend.  She gets covered in sunblock so thick that it's almost like spreading cheese on her.  I think it's SPF 60 or something, and if she stood at attention I could probably use her as a Zinc pencil.

 

[armyvern]

Or just go for a CHAT.

I usually give Radio Chatter topics no more weight than CHAT.  ;D

My gawd, it's probably been a couple of years since I was in the chatroom.

Edited to add: I linked to the debate thread in my previous post via an edit earlier.

 

[armyvern]

Vern,

T'was a joke, my friend.  She gets covered in sunblock so thick that it's almost like spreading cheese on her.  I think it's SPF 60 or something, and if she stood at attention I could probably use her as a Zinc pencil.

I realize that. What are the odds of any kid making Teen Vogue anyway?  8)

 

[vonGarvin]

I think it's SPF 60 or something, and if she stood at attention I could probably use her as a Zinc pencil.

:rofl:
Now, that, my friends, is comedy!