As Izvestia.Ru reports, from now on anyone who lights up in a bar risks being fined from 205 Canadian dollars to 5,000. The owner may also be punished if he brings an ashtray to guests.
On the eve, the WHO, having organized the International No Tobacco Day, again reminded of the danger of cigarettes: every six and a half seconds, one person on the planet dies from diseases related to smoking. American doctors claim that tobacco causes not only lung cancer but also many other diseases that were not previously associated with smoking — for example, stomach cancer, kidney problems, cataracts. As a result, smokers live 13-14 years less than non-smoking citizens.
Toronto moved gradually toward the complete expulsion of cigarettes from public places. The first phase was the ban in 1999 on smoking in workplaces. Then, in 2001, smoking was banned in restaurants. Many owners then, in an attempt to keep smoking clientele, renamed their establishments as bars and thus circumvented the law. Now the turn has come for them — bars have been added to the list of places where smoking is prohibited. There, smoking is allowed only in a special isolated room with autonomous ventilation. Almost no bar in Toronto has such rooms.
The anti-smoking law has reached the Canadian north. The government of the territory of Nunavut banned smoking in public places. Violators will be fined up to 365 dollars. Local residents took the new law calmly, despite the fact that 62% of the local population smokes, and among adolescents the number of smokers is even higher — 80%. The only public place in Nunavut where smoking is allowed remains the prison. Prisoners are allowed two smoke breaks a day, and only when there is a blizzard outside.
Most owners of Russian restaurants in Toronto do not approve of the smoking ban. Says the owner of the local Astoria, Sergey Dagadin: "They are simply killing the business. Russian people smoke, you understand? There should be restaurants for non-smokers and smokers, so that there is a choice. In Russian restaurants, people mostly go to drink and smoke — 99% of them. A client comes in, learns that we don't allow smoking, turns around and leaves."