While many were hailing one of the toughest smoking bans in North America, which went into effect across much of eastern Canada on Wednesday, some smokers were saying the government should butt out of their personal choice to puff on tobacco.
"Where do they draw the line, honestly?" said Richie Hutton, a cook at a downtown Toronto bistro who was taking a smoking break on a city street. "Pretty soon they'll tell me to stop eating chicken because the person next to me is allergic to it."
Though similar bans exist in some states south of the border, few are as restrictive as simultaneous bans launched in Ontario and Quebec on Wednesday, according to anti-smoking advocates on both sides of the border.
While smoking has been banned from most workplaces across Canada, the ban in the massive eastern provinces are now extended to bars, restaurants, casinos, school grounds and all other public places. It also calls on employers to close down designated smoking rooms and requires retailers to ask for ID from cigarette buyers if they appear younger than 25.
"We just announced at 10 minutes to 12 that you had 10 minutes to smoke before the law took effect and I have never seen so many cigarettes lit simultaneously in my life," Rachel Osborne, a waitress at Brutopia in Montreal, said just after the ban went into effect at midnight on Tuesday. Osborne, a nonsmoker who was hoarse from her evening, said: "I'm very, very happy that I will no longer be polluted while I work."
The one woman who had hoped to live to see the ban come into effect was Heather Crowe. The lifelong waitress died 10 days ago from lung cancer caused by second-hand smoke. The nonsmoker became the face of the battle to ban smoking in the workplace with a series of ads sponsored by federal health officials, in which she said she should not "go to work to die."
"We are very pleased we finally have province-wide legislation protecting all workers and the public from second-hand smoke," said Peter Goodhand, head of the Ontario division of the Canadian Cancer Society. "This landmark piece of legislation is one of the toughest in North America and will save lives."
Canada is considered a global leader in its efforts to ease its citizens off tobacco. It was the first country to require graphic warnings on cigarette packages, such as a person on a respirator. Nine of the country's 13 provinces and territories have now passed smoking bans prohibiting cigarettes in the workplace and public buildings, bars and restaurants.
The bans also calls for partial restrictions on advertising signs and countertop displays for tobacco; by 2008 retailers will be forced to hide cigarettes under countertops or inside cabinets completely, with "power-wall" displays of cigarette brands banned entirely.
Only Ireland, Norway, New Zealand, Bhutan, Uruguay, Scotland, Bermuda and Puerto Rico have smoking bans in restaurants and bars nationwide, officials said.
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