The Vancouver Coastal Health Authority is hoping its Olympic legacy will be a much lower rate of smokers in the population. Nick Losito, VCHA’s regional director of health protection, told the Straight that it’s possible to reduce the smoking rate to below 10 percent in the health region by 2010. Losito estimated that the current smoking rate is about 14 percent within the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority.

“Further restrictions on the display of tobacco products at retail will help,” Losito said.

He added that Premier Gordon Campbell’s plan to ban smoking in all indoor public places by 2008 could also help the health authority reach its goal. Campbell made the announcement at the B.C. Liberal convention on November 5.

“There is an expectation that the [Olympic] venues are going to be smoke-free,” Losito said. “But we’re saying, ”˜Look, let’s attract people here because we offer it beyond the venues. We offer it in the lineups to the venues. We offer it in the communities that are hosting the events.’”

Losito said that eliminating smoking on restaurant and bar patios is another option under consideration. He noted that staff conducted a survey of 40 bar and restaurant patios and found that 80 percent didn’t fully comply with the technical definition of a patio.

“This time of year, they begin to drape plastic and tarps around it,” Losito said. “To me, a patio is something where there is a free flow of air through the occupied space. And it’s opened on two sides, if not three sides, for natural ventilation to essentially dilute the cigarette smoke and move it out of the patio space. So 80 percent of the ones we looked at don’t meet that definition.”

He said that he hopes to bring a report with recommendations to Vancouver city council early in 2007 to address any remaining gaps between the new provincial policy and what health officials feel is necessary at the local level. He said his staff have been working closely with Whistler city council to try to ensure that it imposes restrictions similar to Vancouver’s on patios and smoking rooms.

“A couple of councillors are trying to promote more patio space and more sidewalk seating for bars and neighbourhood pubs and so forth,” Losito said. “We’ve had a bit of a push back from city staff who see us as trying to restrict it a bit further.”