Smoking ban in Alberta - great news for musicians!

[Robert]

This is great news for us who play in bars in Alberta. I have been avoiding some of the local jam sessions for this very reason. Soon I don't have to! :beer: :AOK:



A province-wide smoking ban in all public places and workplaces has been approved, with a planned effective date of January 1, 2008.

Alberta’s new Tobacco Reduction Act will also prohibit smoking within a specified distance from the windows, doorways and air intakes of public places to protect indoor air quality.

“We need to reduce smoking and the harmful effects of second-hand smoke in our province,” said Dave Hancock, Minister of Alberta Health and Wellness. “Every year, 3,400 Albertans die from tobacco-related causes and the province spends about $471 million on health care costs directly attributed to tobacco use.”
...
The Tobacco Reduction Act also introduces a number of other changes.

Tobacco power walls and other promotional displays in retail outlets will no longer be permitted and pharmacies, retail stores with pharmacies, health facilities and public post-secondary institutions will not be permitted to sell tobacco products. These changes are proposed to become effective July 1, 2008 and January 1, 2009, respectively.

Read here for more info - http://www.health.gov.ab.ca/SmokeFree/tobacco_reduction.html

[sunvalleylaw]

That sort of regulation occurred 10 or 12 years or so down here. There was concern at the time that there would be an adverse effect on business. Business seemed actually to benefit overall. :pancake

[SuperSwede]

They did the same here a couple of years ago, unfortunately it now smells WORSE at the bars and pubs.

[Jimi75]

Same from the German front.

I love to sit in a bar or restaurant without being passively killed by a smoker!

[R_of_G]

That sort of regulation occurred 10 or 12 years or so down here. There was concern at the time that there would be an adverse effect on business. Business seemed actually to benefit overall. :pancake

Within recent times, Florida has also instituted several laws like tis, as well as county regulations where I live which effectively ban most indoor smoking. I quit smoking cigarettes recently, but even when I did smoke, when I was somewhere that allowed smoking, I typically took it outside. [Once you are outside, at least with the air quality in America, all bets are off]. I figured, just because I smoked, didn't mean everyone else needed to share my cigarette with me.

The situation was similar to what SV Steve reports, that there was some concern that business would be impacted negatively, but it doesn't appear to me that that happened.

Of course, there is the side of me that believes none of these things should be regulated by governments, but it can be argued that there is a public health concern at issue, so maybe it is their business. Ok, no more politics.:AOK:

[Tone2TheBone]

I'm glad they did it here. Especially at restaurants.

[Spudman]

I'm not a smoker and when I was on the road playing 6-7 nights a week I would go running around 3 am (unless there was a really good party) and I would hawk up these huge green lugies. I could tell exactly what was happening from passive smoke.

I'd also get buzzed from all the second hand nicotine. I'd much rather never have to deal with this and not have to leave my clothes outside when I come home from a gig. On the plus side - the smell kept the skunks away from the house.:AOK:

[Guitar Gal]

Here in Ohio, we FINALLY passed a smoking ban in public places one year ago.

It's so nice now to go out to eat at a restaurant and not gag on someone else's second hand smoke....or smell like smoke when I leave :AOK:

GG