The people of Vancouver seem to be comfortable worrying and discriminating against smokers, reported in a Dec. 6 story “Smoking banned in city’s parks.” And The Columbian does its usual job of exploiting it the following day with its editorial, “Another good ban: Smoking in Vancouver’s parks snuffed out, and for perfectly logical reasons.” But it’s obvious what the lawmakers want: They don’t want to pick up cigarette litter, and they probably don’t want their superficial view of Vancouver to be “tainted” by smokers who might actually be making a gesture of the human condition: addiction.
While I know that smoking isn’t healthy (it’s pretty much impossible to not know that these days, of course) I still smoke because I am addicted to cigarettes. Amy May, quoted in the story, hits the nail on the head with her comment: “It’s discriminating against a certain group of people.” The point is, how far must we go to promote the belief that we don’t like unhealthy habits? Apparently, really far.
Oh, and now the police have another law to worry about. Great. That makes a lot of sense.
Nick Kessler
Vancouver
