Homeless in Calgary Part 8: Smokers

"Smoke, smoke, smoke that cigarette..."
"I smoke 'em because ... I Can't Quit" (instead of "I like 'Em")

In a lifetime, a smoker spends enough money to buy a house. (Even with the excessively high prices of homes and rent in Calgary, the increased taxes on tobacco products make that still true.)

Smokers used to be considerate of non-smokers, but that is rarely true today. They defiantly smoke in the presence of non-smokers, even though medical experts have proven in research that second-hand cigarette smoke is just as harmful to the health of non-smokers as smoking is to smokers. Does Health Canada have any legislation or regulations to protect non-smokers? No. Instead, they just explain how smokers should be more considerate of non-smokers. Which not only is not enforcable, but will only happen when something freezes over (such as all tobacco plants around the world).

Non-smokers have to walk through polluted clouds of smoke, as smokers stand beside doorways, or right in the middle of the pathway. And when smokers finish their outdoor break, they inhale a last cloud of smoke into their lungs, and bring it back inside the building, to pollute everyone's air. Or they smoke on C-train platforms, and bring the fumes into the train cars. Or their clothes reek of tobacco tar from their heavy smoking.

Smokers still smoke in the washrooms of shelters, as they are apparently too lazy to walk outside and back. Not only does this leave second-hand smoke in the air-conditionning to harm non-smokers, it is a flagrant violation of a city bylaw and is also a violation of fire regulations. A newspaper article claimed that a major condo fire that left 300 persons homeless was probably caused by a careless smoker. Surprisingly, the condominium owners or managers were reluctant to sue the smoker to recover the damages caused to both them and the other tenants. Why aren't there laws making smokers financially accountable for the consequences of their sloppy habit, inside buildings, and outside where they cause numerous grass and forest fires each year.

Why doesn't Security help enforce the posted "5 metres from building" city bylaw signs at the entrance to and on the outside walls of the shelter? Because they are also smokers.

Non-smokers are subjected to tobacco fumes as they walk along sidewalks in front of buildings in the city. Why don't bylaw officers give them fines and tickets, both for smoking and for littering? Is it because bylaw enforcers also smoke?

Smokers believe that the world is their ashtray. Proof of this is seen around us, with large numbers of butts left on patios, sidewalks, entryways, grass in public parks, at intersections, and at C-train stations. Once again, these thoughtless and lawless people have no respect for anything other than their disgusting, selfish habit.

In the Drop-In Centre (DI) lunchroom, many persons tear apart butts that they picked up from the ground or outdoor containers, so that they can manufacture cigarettes to smoke from the remaining grains of tobacco. Not only is this practice more hazardous to their health, but a major unhygienic risk to other diners. And rolly papers or cigarette tubes cost money.

Cigarette smokers should face the facts. Their habit does not give them higher social status or wealth, as the only persons getting very wealthy are the owners of tobacco companies and those in the sales and distribution chain. A former work colleague of mine confessed that he really only enjoyed two of the cigarettes that he smoked during the day; the first one in the morning and the last one at night.

One would think that the picture of someone smoking a cigarette (on TV) through an esophageal opening in their neck would shock people into realizing how hazardous smoking is to their health. But apparently that has not stopped the thousands who can be seen smoking on the streets.

Only recently, perhaps as a direct result of the recession, have companies realized how much smoke breaks taken frequently by employees robs them of productivity.

When will the shelters realize that the frequent trips outside and inside the building by smokers compromise the security of the building for the other tenants? Trespassers and thieves can enter the building by tailgating the smokers, or by using social engineering to lead security or staff to believe that they belong.

And does the DI realize how many financial donors that they lost by including the "smoking balconies" in their new building? And that the double-door airlock between the balcony and the lunch room does little to prevent cigarette smoke from entering the room?

Perhaps homeless smokers should be required to live inside industrial chimneys.


Written by Anonymous45