Dear sir:
There have been several letters sent to this paper on the rights of individuals to smoke.
I don’t think anyone would disagree that an adult should be able to make their own decision on this issue. It’s also our “right” to smoke cigars, and burn incense, but do we do this in restaurants?
It’s our “right” to burn our garbage and old tires in our own yards, isn’t it? But most of us don’t do this. We use common sense and try to be courteous to our neighbours.
Well sorry, but blowing cigarette smoke towards someone is not being courteous. Forcing a waiter or waitress to breathe in the second-hand smoke from 15 cigarettes all going at once in a restaurant is not courteous.
As for the employee getting another job . . . are these smokers going to serve their own coffee?
It’s too bad we have to make laws that force us to be courteous to others—and to our environment—but there you have it.
Dr. Pete Sarsfield is getting a lot of bad press also these days. But one of his functions is to protect us from health hazards and unfortunately, one of these hazards is from second-hand smoke.
Our governments—both federal and provincial—take half-measures or pass the buck, and even our city councils, although given the power to pass bylaws on smoking bans, don’t want to take the heat on this.
I think Dr. Sarsfield should be commended for taking the position he did. He would be remiss in his duties if he did not—like our governments and councils.
Thanks to those restaurants and coffee shops that already have gone the way of smoke-free environments, and let’s hope the others soon will follow suit.
(Signed),
Paul Forget
102 6th St. W.,
Fort Frances, Ont.