No Smoking in Parks in 3 local Parks in Peterborough ON...

[meow_173]

Clear the air


If you want to light up in City parks this summer, think again.
The City is expanding its smoking bylaw to include the spectator portions of Del Crary Park, East City Bowl and Riverside Park.
That decision received final approval from councillors at Monday's City council meeting. Councillors also committed to spending $10,000, from a reserve fund, for signs and a public education campaign.
This is just the first step in the City moving towards completely smoke-free parks, playgrounds and other public areas.
Peterborough is joining other municipalities in butting-out. Collingwood and Orillia were two of the first communities to pass smoking bylaws. Belleville and Toronto have also joined the ranks, with Toronto banning smoking from 833 playgrounds. In 2007, Peterborough amended its bylaw to prohibit smoking at the Riverview Park and Zoo.
"There is no known acceptable level of exposure to second hand smoke," said Donna Churipuy, manager of health protection at the local health unit.
The first phase of expanding the bylaw would start in 2009 and would target just the spectator areas at Del Crary Park, East City Bowl and Riverside Park. Each year more than 250,000 people visit Del Crary Park and East City Bowl. Phase two would examine further smoking restrictions at areas such as any playgrounds, sport fields, wading pools, pavilions, beaches, skateboard areas and picnic shelters with a possible 2010 implementation date. At Monday's meeting, three members of the Peterborough Youth Action Alliance voiced their support for the expanding the smoking bylaw. In 2008 the group conducted a survey at Del Crary Park and found that 92 per cent of the respondents said they would support tobacco-free parks in Peterborough. Youth Action Alliance Member Rachelia Giardino told councillors some 4.5 trillion cigarette butts are littered around the world. She said not only can small children and animals ingest the butts, but they also have a negative impact on the appearance of the community.

Reasons for going smoke free in Peterborough

- The majority of Peterborough's population is non-smoking. A 2007 Canadian
Community Health Survey from Statistics Canada found 79.1 per cent of residents in Peterborough do
not smoke. The amendment to the bylaw will benefit the majority of the residents.
- Children and youth model their behaviour after the people they look up to -
coaches, leaders, family and peers. Prohibiting smoking in parks and playgrounds
will reinforce a smoke-free lifestyle.
- Cigarette butts are the main source of litter in communities, beaches and
particularly at Del Crary Park and the Peterborough Marina. Prohibiting smoking is
one measure to protect the natural environment of Peterborough's parks and
playgrounds.
- There is no known safe level of exposure to second-hand smoke, even outdoors.
- Tobacco use goes against the health benefits gained by participating in sport and
recreational activities.
- It is important for youth to receive the same tobacco-free messages at their park-based
sport or recreation programs/activities as they experience at school and in
the wider community.

* From the local health unit and City staff


<SIZE size="175"></SIZE>

I, being a non-smoker, think this is a great idea. Being in a public place, where there are kids around, and kids not normally exposed to second hand smoke, i don't think people who do smoke should be allowed too in these parks. I think maybe there should be a designated area for them possibly, but i think its a good idea. IMO.

<SIZE size="175">Thoughts?</SIZE>

 

[Dadu2004]

I agree that there should be a designated area. The fact is that smoking is legal and there should at least be a place to do it. I'm not a fan of having smoking around kids or in places where smoke is being blown in other's faces, so I get the bans, but there should be an accomodation. I try to be a courteous smoker and get away from people whenever I can.

(...and your dude still needs a shower)

 

[meow_173]

See at Brock there were designated Smoking Areas. Which i completly agree, smoking is not illegal, therefore to accomodate those who do, a smoking area should be instilled. (hey now......no inter-bashing here.....or i may just have to pull one of these.......

.....see what you made me do?????)



You should read some of the posts from the FB group about this:


8:51am
It just pisses me off that it's only the non-smokers that have rights...they say their big concerns are the smoke and the cigarette butts, well I don't see how cigarette smoke is much worse than what comes out of cars and buses, and if the butts are such a huge problem why can't they have more places to put them out in? You see them on the sides of buildings like Wal-Mart, so put them in more places and people might actually use them. They've said that their goal is to make Peterborough smoke free...why? Why can't we have the rights other people do? There are WAY bigger issues they should be dealing with. How about trying to put an end to poverty, or homelessness, or unemployment rates? They don't want us smoking outside where it's wide open, but they have no problem having a clinic that makes it easier for drug addicts to stick a needle in themselves. What's wrong with that picture? It's just irritating beyond belief that they are taking away our rights just because they can.
[/URL]

at 12:34am
http://www.petitiononline.com/Y2SMOKIN/petition.html[/URL]
Sign this petion to help bring back smoking to our parks in Peterborough and give us smokers back our rights and freedom!!


[/URL]

11:18pm yesterday
fuck what the city says i'm gonna smoke my face off where ever the fuck i want, its bad enough that i acant smoke in the bars they damn sure arent gonna tell me i cant smoke outside



10:52pm yesterday
If you want to light up in City parks this summer, think again.
The City is expanding its smoking bylaw to include the spectator portions of Del Crary Park, East City Bowl and Riverside Park.

That decision received final approval from councillors at Monday's City council meeting. Councillors also committed to spending $10,000, from a reserve fund, for signs and a public education campaign.

OMG are you kidding me...this is where our money is going? What about all the garbage found around this town, and they bitch about cigarette butts....the dog shit in our parks, needles and crack pipes found in parks, streets, Our streets need to be fixed I bet there wouldn't be so many accidents if they worked on this....And what about the panhandlers on our main streets....and the prostitutes...drug dealers....


10:26pm yesterday
This is complete bullshit, they took away our rights to smoke in bars, resturants, bingo halls, Casino's even when these places made their places both non-smoking and smoking that wasn't good enough, they took it all away... But now we cannot even smoke in a park, zoo etc... like common already.. How many people are still gonna want to go the the Festival of lights or take their children to the Zoo... I am not speaking for all smokers here but when I take my children to the Zoo I am there for hours on end the Zoo is nice and my kids love it but if I can no longer smoke there I more then likely will not be there...Same goes for the Festival of lights...I mean like common they moved it so smokers had to be on the sidelines there or at the back of the park, and well we did that now they make it so that we cannot smoke there at all...this is complete bullshit....

 

[Dadu2004]

Yeah people get pretty upset about it...Ohio went non-smoking a couple years ago, taking it away from all restaurants and bars. Restaurants I understand, bars I don't. (Dude has ugly hair) But outside? Can you really ban people from doing it outside now? I would think that with the amount of smokers in the world, they'd have to provide some accomodations.

Now, people that smoke in cars with kids....no law should be there...instead, they should be shot on site.

 

[meow_173]

Yeah people get pretty upset about it...Ohio went non-smoking a couple years ago, taking it away from all restaurants and bars. Restaurants I understand, bars I don't. (Dude has ugly hair) But outside? Can you really ban people from doing it outside now? I would think that with the amount of smokers in the world, they'd have to provide some accomodations.

Now, people that smoke in cars with kids....no law should be there...instead, they should be shot on site.

"Ontario has passed a bill the government says is the strictest anti-tobacco legislation in North America.
The Smoke-Free Ontario Act prohibits smoking in all workplaces and indoor public spaces. It is to take effect in June 2006. "

And this passed year they also passed a no smoking in cars with kids under the age of 16. Now, an 18 year old was caught smoking in a car with a 16 year old, and was charged. When the police officer asked the 16 year old to step out of the car, the 16 year old lit one up. So there are a lot of loop holes i think.

(Oh and he has FANTASTIC hair.....you wish you ahd his hair...i know your jealous.....)

 

[16th ave.]

the following quote from meow's post pretty much sums it up well enough for me... there's a lot of areas here in texas that have gone or are going smoke free. the dallas/fort worth metroplex is one of them among many...

but i tell ya what--they can't stop me from smoking in my car, even if i'm on a hospital property as long as they haven't made an ordinance or put up a sign that says not to do so on any given property... smoking in my car is a much more comfortable place to get a minute of peace and quite during times of stress such as a rough couple hours at work and its break time......


""""""It just pisses me off that it's only the non-smokers that have rights...they say their big concerns are the smoke and the cigarette butts, well I don't see how cigarette smoke is much worse than what comes out of cars and buses, and if the butts are such a huge problem why can't they have more places to put them out in? You see them on the sides of buildings like Wal-Mart, so put them in more places and people might actually use them. They've said that their goal is to make Peterborough smoke free...why? Why can't we have the rights other people do? There are WAY bigger issues they should be dealing with. How about trying to put an end to poverty, or homelessness, or unemployment rates? They don't want us smoking outside where it's wide open, but they have no problem having a clinic that makes it easier for drug addicts to stick a needle in themselves. What's wrong with that picture? It's just irritating beyond belief that they are taking away our rights just because they can.""""

 

[Xero]

I think anyone smoking on a playground or in a park looks like an ass anyway.

How are people going to ARGUE about a law that prevents them from smoking around a place meant for CHILDREN?!!?? Like - what do you mean I can't do something disgusting and harmful to a child's health in a place where they play that I do to myself only because I am addicted? Yeah, that's just CRAZY. Non-smokers have all the rights because smoking is something you're supposed to be able to CHOOSE to do, not something that you are constantly subjected to no matter what you choose, cause "I'm gonna smoke wherever I feel like it, cause I can and I don't care". That is so brainless, and self centered.

Smokers have the right to SMOKE, but NOT the right to FORCE others to be affected by it!!! The world is evolving, and over the last couple decades we've figured out that "Woops! Smoking is way worse for you than we thought." but people continue to ignore the PROVEN facts that smoking kills hundreds of thousands of people every year, and hurts our children, and smoke anyway because they can't let it go and because it's "legal". The smoke that comes out of cigarettes is nothing close to the invisible stuff that comes out of cars and whatnot, and that's a huge cop out. People need to get over themselves and come to realize that smoking is bad and the people that choose not to do it should not be made to breathe it in EVER.

Is their argument seriously "People should have to deal with breathing in poison if I feel like smoking where they're standing, even children! Cause smoking is legal and I like to do it at my convenience!!"

I'm sick of seing cigarette butts everywhere, kids suffering from asthma due to careless parents caring more about their stupid habbit, smoke killing people, second hand smoke killing people, and everything else disgusting and messed up involving cigarettes. People that smoke anywhere near children should be ASHAMED of themselves.

I'm sorry I just can't believe people are mad that they can't smoke around children. Get over it.

At least when people drink next to a kid, the beer doesn't go up their nose when they exhale.

 

[16th ave.]

imo, its no worse than watching someone get drunk or even have just a beer or two in front of their kids or in any other place, be that place public or private--baseball park or your own home. alcohol changes a person's frame of mind a whole lot more than smoking a cigarette ever could unless one is addicted to the cig.s the way they would be addicted to cocaine or heroine or any other illegal drug.
imo, i find it more of nuisance to have to put up with folks who are having an alcoholic beverage(s) than having to smell cigarette smoke or even see the butts lying on the ground somewhere.
both drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes kills folks--only thing is one thing kills whole lot quicker and nastier in appearance than the other. if one is going to be completely banned then so should the other. not just in parks either. but in bars, at baseball games, at any and every place possible.
in my own personal experience watching my parents get drunk and/or just drink a beer or two was more damaging then their smoking cigarettes ever has been because of what the drinking did to their personalities. the cigarettes never did nothin that changed their frames of mind the way the drinking did even when they had just had a beer or two.

by the way---i didn't start smoking because i watched my parents smoke. i started smoking to piss them off, which did work. my dad hit the roof!! but he couldn't do a dang thing about it because i was a legal adult at the tender naive age of 20. later on, i found smoking to be a good and easy excuse to take a quick break where folks couldn't belly ache because i was actually taking five minutes to catch a breath. most folks will bitch if they see someone taking a break, even when it is a deserved and needed one, if most folks don't feel a person needs a break. if people know you smoke then they tend to not say anything when a person goes on a cigarette break. for some reason people just don't gripe much if a person needs/wants a cigarette break. so go figure.
i'm not much of a drinker. i can barely drink one margarita or daqueri and then i feel it extremely well. you can bet that after 3 or 4 margaritas i'm either down for the count or really nasty drunk in a sometimes funny way and sometimes in a not so funny way depending on my mood when i start drinking....but ya know what? there's never a hangover the next morning. lol , can even count on one hand how many times i've been drunk and had a hangover.:veryconfused:

anyways, smoking a cigarette and kids getting exposed to that is no worse than drinking a beer or two or even getting drunk and kids getting exposed to that.

it all depends on what a person thinks is the lesser of two evils.
IMO drinking any alcoholic beverage, regardless of how much you drink, is much much worse than smoking a cigarette.

it all depends on the person...

 

[Xero]

I rarely ever drink, and it has NEVER been in front of my child. I agree that drinking should never be done in front of kids, so that's not something I need to argue about.

However, that is nowhere near equal to smoking a cigarette around a child. I agree they both look as bad in their own way, and influence kids badly in their own way equally, and NEITHER of them should be done in the presence of children. However, like I said before, you drinking a beer next to a kid doesn't get them a little drunk. The smoke you smoke next to a child GETS IN THEIR LUNGS!!! THEY BREATHE IT IN!! A kid can't swallow a sip of your alcohol because they're sitting on the couch next to you and you're drinking it. Sorry, but smoking by a kid and drinking next to a kid is not comparable as far as health concerns go. And I was talking about the health concerns, not the moral problems.

It does NOT depend on the person. No matter who you are, if you are smoking next to a kid, the kid is affected by breathing in second hand smoke. I HAVE ASTHMA BECAUSE OF MY MOM SMOKING AROUND ME. And other various problems as well. She can never take that back. I love her, and its less her fault because back then we didn't know enough about second hand smoke. Now we DO KNOW what it does, and parents continue to smoke around kids as if they have no clue, or just don't care.

You've seen pictures of what a smokers lungs look like right? Disgusting and black and coated with tar and everything else, right? You know there's a little bit of that on the lungs of kids exposed to second hand smoke? There IS a difference in the appearance and health of kids lungs who are and aren't around smoking parents. Also, check this link out it's very short and extremely biased and informational, and it PROVES that smoking isn't harmless to kids just cause you're not blowing it down their throats.

Neuroscience for Kids - Nicotine, Second Hand Smoke, Infants

It doesn't just look bad, it hurts them. That's the big deal to me.

Mostly because they can't speak for themselves, its our job to speak for them. If we're not going to protect them from harmful stuff to their health, who is??? We know better, they don't. We're putting stuff in their bodies that they never asked for. Parents CHOSE to smoke, the kids didn't ever choose that. They just have to endure because they don't have a say in the matter, and that's messed up to me.

 

[bssage]

heres my spin.

It takes a lot of money to get all of these legaslations through all of these different courts to make them law. "Follow the money" Who reaps the most from these laws??? The pharmasutical and insurance Companies. Who has the deep pockets to pay for all the advertising PAC ect? Guess what happens when these laws go into effect. What happens to Chantix, Nicoderm ect... While I agree "Smoking is bad for you" So is drinking, Driving over 55mph, skydiving, motorcycle riding, skateboarding, and on and on and on. But they are choices. The problem is quite a few people make bad choices with thier bad choices. People who smoke are not always considerate of people who do not smoke. If a group of people are sitting around talking, watching a game or whatever I will walk away from them to smoke. Its called being considerate. I dont cuss in a mixed crowd and I dont drink if I am not with a like minded group of people. I understand the reasoning for some of the bans. I dont like sitting in smoke filled rooms either. But there should be some consideration for the people who do. Allow us some place away from the general crowd. Someplace where we can gather out of the elements.

Dont talk about cigeratte butts. Isnt there already a law against littering. Maybe they should ban soda pop and snack food and fast food. Maybe they will.

IMO there is really a bigger picture we should be looking at. These are what I call gateway laws. Laws that are chipping away at our personal freedoms. Laws that set a precident Smoking is a "give-me" its easy to get behind a lot of these laws and say yes goverment help yourself and restrict the freedoms of this group it is unhealthy and sets a bad example. Now whats next? And make no mistake something will be next.

You can stop thinking any further than this. Is there anything unhealthy or that sets a bad example that you do that needs some goverment intervention.

 

[Dadu2004]

Bssage - I like your take and agree with you.

Xero - You have a lot of good and valid points, and those points support why I choose not to smoke around my daughter. It's my habit, not hers. The argument that I would take is that in an outside environment in a specified area away from the playground, it's not affecting children. What's the problem with providing accomodations for smokers?

 

[Xero]

If there was a seperate area away from the playground, I don't think that's a big deal. I meant smoking literally on the playground, which is what they're trying to ban I thought. There's no reason there shouldn't be a designated area, that would probably work out best anyway. People would probably use it, since it's there.

And you know, I never did understand why they banned smoking outside of the hospital here in my town, like literally you have to walk across the street off of their property if you want to smoke. They used to have an area, then they banned it there too. I'll admit, I don't know why you couldn't smoke in a designated area for smokers (where children and non smokers obviously would have no place being).

Bssage, I kinda get what you're saying, but kinda don't. They're not making smoking illegal, they're just making it illegal to do in some obvious places, in order to protect the people that don't want to be involved. All of that stuff you mentioned that could be compared, and someday "outlawed", do not affect anyone else when you do them. Unless you handcuff somebody to yourself before jumping out of the plane. If you stand next to somebody and CHOOSE to smoke, they are made part of your decision whether they want it or not. It's a shame that smoking has to involve everyone around you when you do it, but its the truth and that fact doesn't hold true for any of those other "bad for you" things. They're not outlawing it in places because its bad for YOU (the smoker) but because it's bad for other unwilling people (the non-smokers that may be around you). It just seems like you're taking it out of context, and I really don't believe in the whole "the government takes this away from us, whats next! They'll take away something else we're free to do, they're going to control us like robots!" It's just a conspiracy theory, and I don't get into that stuff.

And you are right about the littering, I do agree there, the only thing is that I see the cigarette butts more often, to be honest. All I have to do is take my little boy out in our back yard and if I look away for a second and look back, he's holding a cigarette butt and putting it in his mouth (because unlike a paper mcdonalds cup, I couldn't see the cigarette butt and pick it up before he could get it). Everywhere I go, there's cigarette butts under my feet. There really is. That's why I feel the way I do about that, but you're right people litter everything else too so I don't have too much of an argument or anything. Maybe it's just a personal thing.

 

[Dadu2004]

If there was a seperate area away from the playground, I don't think that's a big deal. I meant smoking literally on the playground, which is what they're trying to ban I thought. There's no reason there shouldn't be a designated area, that would probably work out best anyway. People would probably use it, since it's there.

And you know, I never did understand why they banned smoking outside of the hospital here in my town, like literally you have to walk across the street off of their property if you want to smoke. They used to have an area, then they banned it there too. I'll admit, I don't know why you couldn't smoke in a designated area for smokers (where children and non smokers obviously would have no place being).

Yeah, I think a designated area would be best. You can't completely eliminate smokers from society...sooner or later it's going to be impeding upon my civil liberties.

They did the same thing here at the Cleveland Clinic. YOu can't smoke on the grounds anywwhere, and they won't hire you if you're a smoker. You actually have to submit to a blood test to determine if you're a smoker, and if you are, you're immediately excluded from all job possibilities with them. I personally think that's discrimination and there should be a lawsuit filed.

 

[Xero]

WOW, see that's not cool. Being a smoker doesn't change whether or not you're a good doctor/nurse. Or a good person. That should not be your employers choice. Why would they do that? Just to look good? "Oh, we're a hospital, and smoking is bad for you, so how ironic would that look if a doctor was smoking? Yeah, lets ban smoking, that will look good." :/ Oookay.

See, if there isn't a designated area in a lot of places, you're bound to find somebody breaking the "rules" so I don't know why they wouldn't designate an area. It's not hurting anyone for a bunch of smokers to be smoking in a smoking area lol, and if you don't smoke and you go in there, you're asking for it, you know??

 

[bssage]

Bssage, I kinda get what you're saying, but kinda don't. They're not making smoking illegal, they're just making it illegal to do in some obvious places, in order to protect the people that don't want to be involved. All of that stuff you mentioned that could be compared, and someday "outlawed", do not affect anyone else when you do them.

Nothing happens in a vaccume. Any thing you do effects someone else.

The talk in Iowa is the possability of outlawing it when your in a car period. I am not making this up. Ok now I cant smoke in a bar, On public property, On the property owned by the CO I work for and possabily in the future my car. Your right its not illegal to smoke Its just illegal to smoke anywhere but home. If I am in my car or outside,,,,,,,,,it just makes me mad. They are building on thier successes first the restraunt, then the bar, Public places, private places indoors outdoors. Is it going to stop Xero? When are they going to say "thats enough, were done?" There not. You think people arent going to try and use the sucess they have had with this for other agenda's?

 

[Xero]

I guess I don't really know for sure, nobody does.

That's crazy though, in your own car? I always loved and appreciated the idea of some places outlawing smoking in the car WITH A CHILD in the car, but in your own car in general? What the heck is the purpose of that? You're right in that case, they're really going wild with it. I guess we wont know until we get there. But bssage, smoking kills a lot of people. This is a short read:

How many people die because of smoking each year?

You have to admit, that's kind of ridiculous. I just have to wonder, why are people still smoking? I will never understand, but whatever. Honestly, I just can't be against this completely. There's nothing good about smoking...

 

[Xero]

Here's one on Second Hand Smoke.

Secondhand Smoke Exposed

There's just no reason to support that.

 

[meow_173]

because its an addiction.
Why do alcoholics still drink?
Why do Drug addicts still use?

I don't know how hard it is to quit smoking, but i can only imagine its really hard.....unfortunatly for those who have smoked for years and years, the the damage is usually already done.....or its too late.

 

[Xero]

You can actually clear out your lungs by quitting, I've actually been to a LECOM once to see dead bodies that were cut open, so we could see inside of them (a field trip) and we saw a smoker, a non-smoker, someone who was a non-smoker but exposed to second hand smoke, and someone who WAS a smoker, but quit years and years before dying. The lungs still weren't clean and normal, but they were MUCH MUCH better looking than the smoker's lungs. A HUGE difference, actually. Smoker's lungs are just so disgusting looking, they look like rotten fruit or something. Anyway, it was probably the saddest to see the the second hand smoke lungs, because they were spotted with black and didn't look so good (although still far better than the smoker lungs) and I just know that my lungs look like that, and it's depressing to me.

Anyway, I know that's why people still smoke and drink and do drugs, I realize that. I just wish everyone could come to their senses and care about their health instead of their addictions. I'm sure it's hard, I know it is. Most people would like to quit, but the idea freaks them out because they couldn't imagine life without smoking. I wish life were more simple I guess. To be honest, my point is that I just don't feel bad for the people that smoke having a hard time. It's just SO bad for you, and bad for everyone else. Other than it being "enjoyable" somehow, or "cool", there is just no GOOD reason to smoke. No benefits at all. Although I've always chosen not to smoke, smoking has always played a big negative role in my life and it has never been fair to me that I didn't have a choice in the matter, so I'm glad this is happening.

 

[zeitgeist]

Non-smoker here.


On the rational hand:
Cut it from the bars, resturants and inside buildings, fine. Cut it from large gatherings outdoors... ok, I can see that with a designated smoking area. Cut it entirely from outdoor areas seems a bit much. If your smoke isn't a problem for anyone, then it isn't a problem for anyone.


On the other, slightly less rational hand:

I am not speaking for all smokers here but when I take my children to the Zoo I am there for hours on end the Zoo is nice and my kids love it but if I can no longer smoke there I more then likely will not be there...

Holy cow! That's unbelievably petty when you realize that you can get this message out of it too: "My kids love the zoo, but I can't control my addiction for four hours so no zoo for them!"

If this is the typical attitude of smokers, perhaps a couple of hours of enforced abstinance could do them some good. In this case, it would at least get the kids away from the chain smoking that seems to be implied.


(Again, that's the slightly less rational hand. In reality I recognize that not every smoker would have that kind of attitude.)