Under town council's direction, administration will review recommendations made by tobacco control organization Action of Smoking & Health (ASH Canada), to potentially improve Cochrane's smoking bylaw and create more smoke-free public spaces.
Les Hagen, executive director of ASH told council in a Feb. 22 committee of the whole meeting that smoking rates are at an all-time low in Canada largely thanks to slowly moving the needle on public restrictions, but now, he added, is the time to "step on the gas."
The two most effective ways to reduce smoking, Hagen said, are to implement tax increases and introduce smoking restrictions. The goal of the amendments ASH requests serve to further reduce the social acceptability of smoking, especially in youth.
"You can't increase tobacco taxes as a council under the Municipal Government Act, but you can bring in smoking restrictions," he said. "You have the second most powerful tool at your disposal and I'd encourage you to use that."
Cochrane's current smoking bylaw prohibits smoking/vaping in public premises, public vehicles, on or within five metres of a playground, outdoor pool, sports field or outdoor skating rink. Cannabis consumption is prohibited at all public spaces.
"Specifically, we request that you make all parks, public recreation spaces and public events completely smoke free," Hagen said. "We have to look out for kids especially and that's what this is all about — to protect them from smoking companies and vaping companies that would love to have their business."
He believes the simplest way to implement this change is to align public restrictions with cannabis use, which according to ASH kills 1,000 people in Canada each year, factoring in impaired driving fatalities. Tobacco kills 50,000 people in the same time frame.
"Anything that your council can do, justified with respect to cannabis consumption, you can justify by a factor of 50 on tobacco," he said.
Other municipalities such as Okotoks and Strathmore have already taken similar steps to align their bylaws.
The bylaw provision also recommends extending the smoking and vaping ban to include outdoor public events such as markets, group living facilities and hotel and motel rooms — the latter of which was a step Cochrane took a number of years ago.
Coun. Susan Flowers said she is happy that smoking laws and restrictions have changed over the years. Big Hill Lodge, where Flowers sits as a board member for the Rocky View Foundation, has a smoking room that's become a point of contention for some residents at the group living facility.
"It's causing a lot of problems for those that don't smoke because you can't conceal it into the room," she said. "We're going to be looking at that in the very near future."
Coun. Marni Fedeyko expressed some doubt with enforcing such a bylaw.
"How do you actually patrol it?" she asked.
Hagen suggested that strengthening the bylaw with the suggested amendments would actually make it easier to carry out.
"What we're talking about is making any form of smoking or vaping — [prohibiting] any form in public places, particularly those where children are allowed," he said. "The simple act of smoking or vaping becomes the offense and it's easy to see, easy to spot."
The tobacco control organization has a goal of decreasing smoking rates to five per cent of the national population by 2035.
"The only way we're going to do that is if we keep doing what we have been doing at all levels of government, including municipal," Hagen said.
Council will review the request to amend the bylaw when administration returns with recommendations at a future council meeting.
