Overview
An Act to Protect Young Persons and Other Persons From Tobacco Smoke
Royal Assent: May 30, 2002
An Act to
Protect Young Persons and Other Persons from Tobacco Smoke represents
a significant step forward in the fight against tobacco in Nova
Scotia. It protects people, especially children and youth, from
second-hand tobacco smoke. This legislation is one element of
the province's comprehensive tobacco strategy aimed at significantly
reducing smoking rates and the burden of tobacco-related illness.
Key Components of the Legislation
No smoking in any of the following enclosed places:
- daycare, pre-school
- school, community college or university [also, no smoking
on school grounds]
- library, art gallery or museum
- health-care facility
- cinema or theatre
- video arcade
- pool hall, billiards room
- recreational facility where the primary activity is physical
recreation, including, a bowling alley, fitness centre, gymnasium,
pool or rink
- multi-service centre, community centre/hall, arena, fire
hall or church hall
- meeting or conference room or hall, ballroom or conference
centre
- retail shop, boutique, market or store or shopping mall
- laundromat
- ferry, ferry terminal, bus, bus station or shelter, taxi,
taxi shelter, limousine or vehicle carrying passengers for hire
- vehicle used in the course of employment while carrying
two or more employees
- common area of a commercial building or multi-unit residential
building including corridors, lobbies, stairwells, elevators,
escalators, escalators, eating areas, washrooms and restrooms
- offices of the Government of the Province, a municipality,
a village or a school board
- provincial jail, detention centre, or reformatory
- any building or facility designated by the regulations
but is allowed in
- a private home
- at private functions where minors are not allowed
Workplaces (other than restaurants, bars, bingos,
nursing homes, psychiatric facilities, veterans acute/long term
care facilities)
- no smoking in indoor areas except in a designated smoking
room that is enclosed and separately ventilated.
- youth under 19 years of age not permitted to enter the
smoke room
Restaurants
- no smoking except in a designated smoking room that is
enclosed and separately ventilated.
- designated smoking room cannot comprise more than 25%
of seating area.
- youth under 19 years of age not permitted to enter the
smoke room
- ashtrays prohibited in non-smoking areas
Beverage rooms & Lounges
- between 6:00AM and 9:00PM, no smoking except in a designated
smoking room that is enclosed and separately ventilated.
- between 6:00AM and 9:00PM, the designated smoking room
cannot comprise more than 25% of seating area.
- youth under 19 years of age not permitted to enter the
smoke room
- ashtrays prohibited in non-smoking areas
Bingo halls & Private clubs
- if youth under 19 are permitted to enter, no smoking except
in a designated smoking room that is enclosed and separately ventilated.
- youth under 19 years of age not permitted to enter the
smoke room
Outdoor eating places (i.e. patios, decks)
- restaurant patio/deck: smoking area restricted to 50%
of seating
- bar/lounge patio/deck: between 6:00AM and 9:00PM, smoking
area restricted to 50% of seating
- youth under 19 years of age not permitted in smoking area
- ashtrays prohibited in non-smoking areas
Psychiatric facility, nursing home or residential care
facility or a part of a health-care facility used for the acute
or long-term care of veterans:
- no smoking in indoor areas except in smoking room that
is separately enclosed and separately ventilated
- youth under the age of nineteen years not permitted to
enter smoking room
Detox centres
- smoking permitted in a designated smoking room for one
year after effective date to allow phase in to 100% smoke-free
detox facilities.
Building entrances
- no smoking within 4 metres of windows, air intake vents
and entrances to places of employment.
Municipal by-laws
- municipalities or other bodies may enact more restrictive
by-laws.
Traditional tobacco use
- nothing affects traditional aboriginal spiritual or cultural
practices/ceremonies using tobacco
Applications for variances
- minor variances to the Act will only be considered in
rare and extenuating circumstances
- a committee, which includes health stakeholders, will
be established to review applications for variances and advise
the Minister of Health.
Enforcement
- by inspectors appointed under the Act
- existing government infrastructure will be utilized
Tobacco Possession by Youth
- no youth under the age of 19 may possess tobacco
- tobacco possession is not an offence, however, peace officers
with reasonable and probable grounds to believe that a person
under 19 may be in possession of tobacco may search the person
and confiscate tobacco in his/her possession.
Effective Date
- Comes into force on January 1, 2003
A copy of the legislation can be found at www.gov.ns.ca/health
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