Matt Gurney: As long as cigarettes are legal, we’ve got the right to smoke them

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Attention all smokers: Youre probably going to want to just start working from home, OK?

On Monday, the Toronto Board of Health adopted a report from the citys medical officer, Dr. David McKeown, that called for the city to extend its existing smoking bans to include outdoor patios, building entrances, hospital grounds and sports fields. For good measure, the board also decided to tack on a few extra places: civic squares and bus shelters. Public consultations into a potential ban are expected in the next few months.

I have never smoked cigarettes. Growing up as an asthmatic, cigarette smoke was something I learned to avoid. That aversion lasted longer than the asthma. And though I opposed, on libertarian grounds, the government banning smoking in bars or in smoking areas of restaurants, I was forced to reconsider while travelling in the United States several years ago. I stepped into a bar where the air was blue with smoke. It was disgusting.

So lets say, for the sake of argument, that we agree smoking indoors anywhere but in a private home should be banned. Risks of second-hand smoke and all that. OK. What about smoking in civic squares or on patios? You know, places that are outside?

We know that patios are one of the main places where young people and people who are trying to quit smoking are exposed to smoke, Dr. McKeown told reporters. So, it makes sense to look at it. There is a good case for taking a look at patios.

You know what else makes sense? For people who are trying to quit smoking to avoid places that might tempt them. Sorry to play the slippery slope card, but why is this any different than shutting restaurants lest they tempt dieters? If anything, obesity is a greater public-health issue than smoking. There are more obese Canadians than smokers, after all.

Dr. McKeown went on to add that smoking in public helps normalize smoking. Well, good heavens. We cant have that. Our bar patios must be kept free to do what they do best: Normalize sitting around in shirtsleeves in the evening chill, drinking beer by the pitcher and eating chicken wings and chili nachos.

Look I get it. Smoking is bad. It kills you, but not before costing the healthcare system a pretty penny. And youngsters are impressionable. Monkey see, monkey buy a pack of Players, monkey later die of esophageal cancer. Its terrible. A reasonable case can be made to protect people from second-hand smoke, or children from being unduly exposed.

But so long as cigarettes are a legal product, maybe its time to acknowledge that if someone wants to catch a smoke while walking across a civic square or standing next to a baseball diamond, they have a right to do so.

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Matt Gurney: As long as cigarettes are legal, we’ve got the right to smoke them