REGINA -
Cars, patios and pharmacies are all in the Saskatchewan Party government sights as they plan "quite encompassing" new anti-tobacco legislation expected to be introduced later this fall, Health Minister Don McMorris said Monday.
The government promised new anti-tobacco measures in the throne speech starting the legislative session last week.
Among the measures being contemplated are banning smoking on restaurant and bar patios and in vehicles carrying minors, setting new limits on how close people smoking can be to public buildings and curtailing tobacco sales in pharmacies.
"Allowing pharmacies, especially the big box store pharmacies, to be selling tobacco products, it's a little counterintuitive to be passing out (smoking) cessation ... medicine, for example, as well as selling tobacco at the same time," McMorris told reporters at the legislature.
He noted some provinces have banned stores with pharmacies from selling cigarettes or have required groceries and big box retailers to keep tobacco products separated from the pharmacy in an area with a distinct entrance.
McMorris said that details of the province's legislation still need to be worked out but Saskatchewan must take steps to deal with smoking rates that are among the highest in Canada.
"All provinces are looking at the whole piece of trying to drive down the use of tobacco, denormalize it and more importantly, protect the people around a smoker from second-hand smoke," he said.
Under the NDP, the provincial government instituted a province-wide smoking ban in enclosed public places at the start of 2005. Outdoor patios in bars and restaurants were exempt although some communities, such as Saskatoon, instituted local restrictions on smoking on decks.
A number of jurisdictions meanwhile, including Ontario, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Yukon have already implemented bans on smoking in vehicles carrying minors, with the cut-off point ranging from 16 to 19 years of age.
"Children in particular are especially susceptible to the poison in second-hand smoke, particularly in an enclosed, confined space like a car," said Donna Pasiechnik, tobacco control co-ordinator of the Canadian Cancer Society's Saskatchewan division.
In response to concerns about infringing on a drivers' rights, Pasiechnik notes that cars are already regulated spaces, pointing to seatbelt laws, mandatory children's seats and drunk-driving restrictions.
As well, the Sask. Party government intends to introduce legislation banning hand-held cellphone use while driving during this legislative session.
As for restaurant and bar patios, Peter Van Loon, an educator with the Lung Association in Saskatchewan, said smoking should not be allowed in spaces where people are gathered together.
"Usually in a patio situation you're clumped quite closely together, and frequently there's not actually good wind flow because there can be partial roofing and that kind of stuff around there. And frequently the servers are very close, so it's a concern for the people working there," he said.
Van Loon said another benefit of a province-wide ban on smoking on patios is that it would level the playing field between restaurants that are able to have decks and those that can't and between communities.
But Tom Mullin, president of the Saskatchewan Hotel and Hospitality Association, said the move will be a blow to rural hoteliers who were hard-hit by the smoking ban four years ago.
Many businesses sunk a considerable investment into building patios precisely because of the smoking law, he said.
However, the association won't be "duking it out" with the government this time because public opinion is likely on its side, said Mullin. Instead, the hospitality industry will press for a better deal with the province on liquor sales.
Ray Joubert, registrar of the Saskatchewan College of Pharmacists, said pharmacists would welcome a move to ban tobacco sales from pharmacies, noting that many already don't sell cigarettes.
"Generally, it's a product that's not compatible with good health and pharmacies are places where one goes for good health, health care," said Joubert, adding that such legislation would level the playing field between small players and large retailers.
