Quoted: a Toronto bartender on the city’s proposed ban on patio-smoking
Quoted: a Toronto bartender on the city’s proposed ban on patio-smoking
That’s what patios offer right now—a place to have a beer and a smoke. It’s your choice to come here.
–A bartender at Esplanade pub Scotland Yard on a new set of recommendations from Toronto health authorities that would eliminate one of the few remaining sanctuaries for Toronto smokers. The report calls for a complete smoking ban on bar and restaurant patios, as well as beaches, sports fields, entrances to public buildings and public spaces like Nathan Phillips Square. According to a fact sheet from Toronto Public Health, 74 per cent of adults support the patio-smoking ban. Unsurprisingly, smokers and patio-owners are less enthusiastic about the proposal, which would effectively outlaw simultaneous boozing and smoking. [Toronto Star]
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/food/quoted-toronto-bartender-patio-smoking/&title=Quoted: a Toronto bartender on the city’s proposed ban on patio-smoking&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Smoking-624x395.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_236987" align="aligncenter" width="656"] (Image: Kari Söderholm)[/caption]
That’s what patios offer right now—a place to have a beer and a smoke. It’s your choice to come here.
–A bartender at Esplanade pub Scotland Yard on a new set of recommendations from Toronto health authorities that would eliminate one of the few remaining sanctuaries for Toronto smokers. The report calls for a complete smoking ban on bar and restaurant patios, as well as beaches, sports fields, entrances to public buildings and public spaces like Nathan Phillips Square. According to a fact sheet from Toronto Public Health, 74 per cent of adults support the patio-smoking ban. Unsurprisingly, smokers and patio-owners are less enthusiastic about the proposal, which would effectively outlaw simultaneous boozing and smoking. [Toronto Star]){kind=link}
The fact that 74 percent support the ban shows that we are inflicting a nanny-state upon ourselves. Politicians will continue to act dictatorially “for the greater good” if that’s what the voters want.
well, no.
are there any health benefits from sitting down wind from a smoker? does it enhance your dining experience?
It’s not like toronto patios are spacious. During a hot Toronto summer night, there is nowhere I’d rather NOT be than a Toronto patio that allows smoking. It is outright disgusting.
smoking on public beaches is also disgusting. where do smokers put their butts? In the sand. Yum! kids digging up sand and finding butts. Butts that do not biodegrade.
I get people hating the Nanny State concept (since I hate the provincial Liberals), but we have to take a second to have a smattering of social responsibility. Why encourage smoking on beaches and patios? Businesses will not suffer. we’ve heard this bullshit cry from bars/restos before. Smokers, like the rest of us humans, adapt. or they possibly reduce the # of cigarettes they smoke.
Win/Win if you ask me.
If people can’t live without their smokes, they’ll have to do it at home (bless their poor neighbours). It’s way past time that the majority (non-smokers) stop having to endure the stench and nastiness that is second hand smoke. You can’t get into or out of a building downtown without enduring a blue cloud, and thus building lobbies reek.