Where There's Smoke There's Fire: Outdoor Smoking Bans and Claims to Public Space. (March 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bell, Kirsten
• Is Part Of: Contemporary drug problems. Volume 40:Number 1(2013)
• Page Start: 99
• Page End: 128
• Publication Date: 2013-03
• Subjects: Smoking -- tobacco -- smokefree legislation -- public space -- denormalization; Drug abuse -- Periodicals; Drugs -- Law and legislation -- Periodicals; Drugs -- Physiological effect -- Periodicals; 362.2905
• DOI: 10.1177/009145091304000106
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0091-4509

Abstract

The Canadian city of Vancouver was very early to introduce extensive smokefree legislation. Smoking has been banned in all indoor locations for well over a decade and tobacco control advocates have also recently begun to push for the expansion of such legislation into outdoor spaces in the city. Drawing on a 6-month period of observation of smokers and "not-smokers" on their lunch breaks at office sites in downtown Vancouver, I examine the ways that smokers engage with outdoor public space. I show that while smokers continue to make material claims to such space, these claims have become increasingly tenuous. I argue that tobacco "denormalization" strategies provide essential context for understanding outdoor smoking bans and raise ethical questions about the form of de-facto prohibition they appear to encourage.