Winnipeg Free Press Feb 28 2004
The cluster of smokers huddled in the doorways of public buildings could be outlawed if Counillor Mark Lubosch gets his way.
Lubosch, who championed the city's indoor smoking ban, wants a smoke-free buffer zone around buildings to ensure people pass throughclean air when entering banks, offices and stores.
Lubosch called the buffer zone "a natural progression" from the city's six-month-old indoor smoking bylaw...
Lubosch said many hospitals ban smokers at entrances to protect asthmatics and those with chronic lung disease. He said the Mall of America in Minneapolis has forced smokers to move 50 feet away from entrances.
Lubosch's motion will be debated at Tuesday's property committee meeting.
Personally I like it. I have an allergy to smoke. I think the years of my father's second hand smoke has affected my lungs - a several bouts of bronchitis and pneumonia. Entering or leaving many buildings means I have to take a deep breath before I pass through the cloud of cigarette smoke at the entrance to many buildings. And believe me, that isn't easy with a wheelchair that I have to roll myself. A lung full of smoke just chokes me.
The smokers are saying it doesn't bother anyone and they should be allowed to step just outside the door. The problem is, that it is never just one. They congregate there creating a cloud of blue air for us to walk through. On top of that they seem to think they have the right to just drop their butts wherever they stand. When I was working at the shelter it was sickening to see some of the residents go out and pick up the butts to smoke them or take them apart to save the remaining tobacco and make new cigarettes.
Needless to say the smokers are a tad upset