City council has banned smoking at Prince George’s Centennial Celebrations.
Council went ahead with the decision after seeing the success of the smoke-free Winter Games.
“I don’t think there was a real need for enforcement,” says Northern Health’s Nancy Viney, “We had lots of signs, and people understand smoke is damaging to our health, and I think both tobacco users and non tobacco users were very respectful of the policy.”
Northern Health representatives think there aren’t enough regulations surrounding outdoor secondhand smoke.
Currently, smokers must be at least 3 metres from building entrances when smoking outside, though many establishments don’t enforce it.
Council hopes the no-smoking rule will help smokers cut back for the duration of the celebrations, but many aren’t sure how to handle the growing popularity of e-cigarettes.
“They look like tobacco, the smoke looks like tobacco, children see other people using these…In areas where children hang out, I think we should really include e-cigarettes in these policies,” says Viney.
Centennial celebrations will run from July 10th to the 19th.
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