Hamilton considers smoking ban in public housing

Hamilton considers smoking ban in public housing
Proposed ban has raised questions about whether prohibiting smoking in private homes could be a violation of human rights
November 25, 2008

THE CANADIAN PRESS


HAMILTON – This southern Ontario city is considering banning smoking in its public housing.

A report on banning smoking in all public housing buildings, as well as beaches and parks, is expected to be released in June 2009.

The proposed ban has raised questions about whether prohibiting smoking in private homes could be a violation of human rights.

John Fraser, a program director at the Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation in Toronto, said because people with lower incomes are over-represented in the smoking population, imposing the ban could be construed as discrimination against low-income families.

"Social tenants don't have a choice to be there. They're living there because they don't have a lot of other options," he said.

But several tenants in public housing say they would support a city-sanctioned ban on smoking in their homes.

Tracy Woods, a long-time smoker, said she would support the move.

She said she currently smokes in her home, but only away from her kids.

"Yes, it's my right, but at the same time, it's not your right when you're polluting your kids and the people around you."

Maria Rose said she also supports the ban.

Rose is also a smoker, though she already abides by a strict "no smoking in the house" policy.

Afroze Edwards of the Ontario Human Rights Commission said if the city were to go ahead with the ban, it could be challenged on the basis that smoking is a disability "because of the addictive nature of it."

(Hamilton Spectator)

thestar.com

Dutch policy going up in smoke: Bars ignoring smoking ban, saying business being threatened

Dutch policy going up in smoke: Bars ignoring smoking ban, saying business being threatened
By MIKE CORDER | Associated Press Writer
8:21 AM EST, November 19, 2008
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) _ A growing number of Dutch bar and cafe owners are slapping ashtrays back on their tables just months after a nationwide smoking ban came into force for bars and restaurants, saying the measure is driving hundreds of small businesses toward bankruptcy.

"The minister is leaving bar owners out in the cold," said Lodewijk van der Grinten, after a meeting late Tuesday with Health Minister Ab Klink. "Some 1,500-3,000 bars could go under because of this ban."

Van der Grinten leads a nationwide umbrella group of restaurant owners lobbying the government to either enforce the ban better or scrap it altogether. He also wants the law adjusted to punish smokers instead of bar owners, and for the government to compensate small cafe owners who are hardest hit.

Owners say they are losing up to 30 percent of their turnover since the ban came into force July 1, and the government enforcement agency is handing out a growing number of fines ranging from euro300 to euro2,400($380-$3,000).

This is the first winter that bars and cafes are having to deal with the restriction in a country where temperatures can drop below freezing in winter. The ban also is being imposed at a time of a global financial crisis and grim economic news.

Amid widespread reports that small cafes are allowing smokers to light up again, Klink wrote to Parliament this week to underscore that the government takes the issue seriously.

"Let there be no misunderstanding," he wrote. "In this country, laws have to be respected and that applies to everybody."

In the first months of the ban, bars were given warnings if they allowed smokers to light up, said Astrid Bergman, a spokeswoman for the government's Food and Wares Authority, which oversees the ban.

That changed on Oct. 1, and since then the authority has fined some 500 establishments, Bergman said Wednesday. She stressed that the majority of bars and restaurants are sticking to the ban.

Others are building special sealed smoking areas or providing covered outdoor seating and heaters for smokers.

The Netherlands is one of the last European countries to impose smoking restrictions in public eateries in an effort to reduce the effects of passive smoking.

The European Commission estimates that nearly 80,000 people die each year in the 27-nation bloc from inhaling other people's tobacco.

All EU nations have rules limiting smoking in public places, but they vary from country to country. Some permit exemptions allowing smoking to continue in bars and cafes, posing health concerns for those that work there.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com

Shameless mocks smoking laws
Monday, November 17, 2008, 15:31

Shameless layabout Frank Gallagher flouts the smoking ban in the new series of the Manchester drama, which returns to our screens in January.
Series six of Shameless sees a boycott of the local boozer by the Chatsworth Estate residents because of the smoking laws.
So staff decide to let the customers smoke in the pub rather than face financial ruin.
Other controversial storylines tackled in the new series include benefit fraud, brothels, stints in jail and stings gone wrong, fake suicides, cold turkey, joyriding, lesbian romps and lingerie parties.
The show has just won Best Continuing Drama for the second year running at the RTS North West Awards and actor Sean Gilder won Best Performance in a Continuing Drama for his role of Paddy Maguire.
Producer Lawrence Till said: "I am delighted to be making television that I would want to watch. Series six is exciting, ambitious and daring - taking stories into areas we don't know and places we have never been.
"We can delight in the surprising nature of ordinary people with drama that unpeels the enormous emotional complexity of their lives".
http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk



Enterprise Inns calls time on 200 pubs
Wednesday, 19 November 2008

Midlands-based pub giant Enterprise Inns is selling off around 200 pubs because of falling sales due to the credit crunch and last year's smoking ban.

It made the announcement after reporting a 12.6% slump in full-year pre-tax profits. Profits stood at £263 million for the year to September 30, compared to £301 million the year before.

"A vicious economic downturn, last year's smoking ban, a hike in beer duty, poor summer weather and cheap offers in supermarkets have all combined to encourage drinkers to stay at home," said chief executive, Ted Tuppen.

The group currently owns 7,700 pubs, a portfolio which had grown from just 368 when Enterprise was founded in 1991.

http://www.talkingdrinks.com