Open Space: Smoking in public needs to stop

To smoke around another person without their consent is a violation of their basic rights.

It’s understandable that cigarette cravings are difficult to control and can strike at any time, but when a person lights up while walking down the sidewalk or sitting at a bus stop, it’s completely unfair to anyone standing within a ten-foot radius.

Many people who smoke say they wish they did not, but in some capacity it was their choice to pick up a cigarette in the first place. A person who is a non-smoker did not choose to pick up a cigarette, so why should they be subjected to the vicious aroma and acrid taste of the death stick?

Should it be the non-smoker’s duty to avoid someone who is smoking? Don’t they deserve to be able to go about their daily life without having to go drastically out of their way to feel comfortable?

For these reasons, the government has implemented tons of anti-smoking legislation, and just because a police officer isn’t going to come along and arrest someone for smoking at a bus stop doesn’t mean that person should feel free to smoke anywhere. It is a person’s responsibility, as a citizen of Canada, to not force their smoke on other people.

And there are tons of other reasons not to smoke around others: perhaps they have recently quit and smoking around them will spark a craving. Maybe having smoke in their face sets off their anxiety.

These aren’t the only issues: littered cigarette butts are also a huge problem. How likely is someone to properly dispose of their cigarette butt if they are smoking at a bus stop or while walking down the street? Not very.

Non-smokers and smokers alike should object when people smoke in public. Those who still choose to do so should realize their actions affect others and have a little consideration for the people around them.