An outing to the beach to soak up the sun and cool off in Lake Erie may soon take a turn for the better with regard to the health of lakeside visitors.
The Smoke-Free Ontario Act prohibits smoking in many public areas, however municipal bylaws are still needed to cover the gaps in places like parks and beaches.
Many municipalities have smoke-free park bylaws, but beaches in the Southwestern Public Health region remain unregulated.
All of that could change by as early as next summer.
In 2016, the health unit conducted a poll at Port Stanley Beach and online to gauge support for smokefree beaches. A total of 1,612 responses were received. Overall, 72 per cent supported smoke-free beaches, with 88 per cent in favour among beachgoers.
Such a move to extend smoke-free regulations to beaches in Elgin is in the very early preliminary stages, advises Laura Crandall with the health unit’s Tobacco Control Program.
She adds beaches in Port Glasgow, Port Stanley, Port Bruce and Port Burwell do not have a smoke-free beach bylaw. Enforcement of such a bylaw would be the responsibility of the municipalities.
Likewise responsibility for the posting of signage would lie with the municipality.
And, each municipality would have to determine penalties for bylaw infractions.
We asked Crandall if there is a likelihood a municipality could resist adopting a smoke-free beach bylaw.
Incorporated into the bylaw, added Crandall, would be restrictions on vaping at a beach.
She stressed there is no specific date for implementation of a smoke-free beach bylaw.
Crandall concluded, “The smoking rates have decreased significantly over the past 20 years. We are seeing increased rates of vaping in the last few years. But it is important to note too that smoking is still the number one cause of preventable cancers and preventable death in Canada.
“So it is still an issue. And any extra policies or bylaws that we can put in place to protect vulnerable populations and kind of continue the denormalization of smoking in public spaces, especially for youth, is important.”
Written by Ian McCallum
