- Death chambers dismay :

CAN you think of =~ ™
an area of public

policy affecting

each and every citi-

zen but dictated by

the rights and con-

cerns of drug

addicts?

The only one I know
of is the current hodge-
podge of rules and regulations dealing with
where smokers should be allowed to light
up. As municipalities across the land strug-
gic to come to terms with this vital issue of
public health, it’s clear that politicians
everywhere are bending over backwards to
cater to the poor souls addicted to this
deaaly drug.

Make no mistake: tobacco is a drug. In
fact it’s one of the most highly addictive
substances ever consumed by human
beings. What's truly shocking, however, is
the recent revelation that unscrupulous
tobacco manufacturers have actually been
placing powerful additives in cigarettes to
make them even more addictive.

The most convincing argument against
tobacco is simple and incontrovertible: it
kills. Our health care system is reeling
under the costs and pressures of treating
burnt out tobacco addicts who have ruined
their lungs and their lives. It’s estimated
that smoking a single cigarette reduces
one’s life expectancy by 12 minutes. Use a
calculator to figure out what this means for
the poor saps who have smoked a pack
every day of their adult lives. The number
of Canadians who will dic prematurely
because of their insidious addiction to this
drug will total 44,000 this year.

There are still a deluded few who feebly
argue that this is an issue of individual
rights. If it was, I'd be sympathetic. But the
tremendous social costs outweigh anyone’s
right to pollute their lungs and sicken their
bodies, forcing our tax-supported system

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rn caged oot medical care to ease
them into their graves.
And it has now been
clearly established that
second-hand smoke kills
non-smakers and seri-
ously disables those who
are sensitive or allergic to
tobacco smoke.

It’s easy to feel sorry for
those old-timers who
have been hooked on
the drug for decades, unable to shake a

a second
opinion

horrible addiction that was once consid-

ered glamorous. Younger adults, who con-
Hnue to smoke in public, seem content to
display their stupidity.

They're
often hud-
dled around
the entrances
and exits of
public build-
ings = where
smoking has
been —out-
lawed, —des-
perately puff
ing on the
weed, clicit-
ing only the
mildest
empathy
from passing
non-smok-
crs.

But the
real tragedy is
represented
by the kids
who smoke ,
at younger
and younger
ages. The tobacco companies, completely
amoral in their practices, actually target
children, particularly young girls, as their
next wave of customers — or should [ say
victims. In fact, the only demographic

“The tobacco
companies,
completely

amoral in
their practices,
actually target
children, par-
ticularly
voung girls, as
their next
wave of cus-
tomers — or
should I say
victims.”

homefront.

e hero on the 7 ;

NORTH VANCOUVER
SUPERST!
1480 Marine Drive (across from Burger King}

group in North America that shows an
Increase in smoking today is teenage girls.
And it’s no coincidence that rates of Jung
cancer are now soaring among young
women,

When one considers these facts, the
nmidity with which our local governments
are dealing with smoking in public places is
truly surprising. This is the number one
public heaith tssue in our country, and it
requires some feadershic. When are we
going to pet serious? When are we going to
stop mollycoddling these drug addicts who
represent a small but obviously influcatial
minority of citizens?

Smoking is banned in most public
buildings today. It's not allowed in movie
theatres. You can’t smoke on. airplanes
either. Recent travellers, however, will have
noticed that most farge North American
airports have now designated smoking
lounges. In these small, crowded rooms,
serious addicts can sit and puff their brains
out under a blue cloud of poisonous
smoke. Some of these lounges have glass
windows, so that passersby can sneak a

peek inside these death chambers. It’s asad.

sight.

Now I notice that North Vancouver
District Council is suggesting some restau-
rants should be allowed to install similar
rooms for smokers. Apparently they would
need to be sealed-off and separately venti-
lated, so as not to contaminate the other
customers.

I'd be in favor of providing such spaces
under two conditions. First, these special
rooms should be required to have glass
walls so that restaurant patrons can be
reminded why they don’t smoke. And sec-
ond, the rooms should have big, bold signs
over their doors: Death Chamber.

— The North Shore News beliewes 7 ty
in freedom of speech and the right of all sides in
a die to oe The i ed ed
in the News ut differing points of view,
but those mews are eae Be those of the

newspaper itself,

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