Opinion: Rites of summer highlight the rights of individuals

Skip to Content News Archives Economy Energy Oil & Gas Renewables Electric Vehicles Mining Commodities Agriculture Real Estate Mortgages Mortgage Rates Finance Banking Insurance Fintech Cryptocurrency Work Wealth Smart Money Wealth Management Investor Personal Finance Family Finance Retirement Taxes High Net Worth FP Comment Executive Women Puzzmo Newsletters Financial Times Business Essentials More Innovation Information Technology FP500 Podcasts Small Business Lives Told Tails Told Shopping Financial Post Store Obituaries Place a Notice Advertising Advertising With Us Advertising Solutions Postmedia Ad Manager Sponsorship Requests Classifieds Place a Classifieds ad Working Profile Settings My Subscriptions Saved Articles My Offers Newsletters Customer Service FAQ News Economy Energy Mining Real Estate Finance Work Wealth Investor FP Comment Executive Women Puzzmo Newsletters Financial Times Business Essentials This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.HomeFP CommentOpinion: Rites of summer highlight the rights of individualsMontrealers are allowed to sit and drink on sidewalk patios but vaping is tightly controlled though its danger is much less than tobacco'sLast updated 10 minutes ago You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.Almost universally, our regulators of behaviour throw vapes into the same category as combustible cigarettes and ban their use in these spaces, writes Almost universally, our regulators of behaviour throw vapes into the same category as combustible cigarettes and ban their use in these spaces, writes Ian Irvine. Photo by JULIE OLIVER/OTTAWA CITIZEN FILESThe past week in Montreal has seen the gradual encroachment of restaurant, bar and café patios onto the city sidewalks and asphalt, any that isn’t potholed, that is. Our six-month winter is slowly yielding to the delights of a brew, a glass of whatever with a fish ‘n’ chips, or even a pricey mocha or latté in the warming outdoor spaces we wintry creatures so cherish. Patrons engage in people-watching and fashion-judging, all the while assessing the chances of Les Canadiens in their playoff quest for the Stanley Cup. Torontonians are doing much the same, except the conversation is in the form of Leafs lamentation.THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLYSubscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman, and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLESSubscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLESCreate an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountAlcohol is a wondrous social lubricant, dulling the brain, firing the spirit and providing a pleasant, almost sensuous experience. Once a conversation gets going the patrons call for another round and the talk grows ever more animated. Such behaviour conforms to our social norms. Our break-out season is uninhibited by government regulation on the permissible percentage of alcohol in a Belgian beer, or the flavours permitted in wine, or the peatiness of single malts.Get the latest headlines, breaking news and columns.By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of Top Stories will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againThis tableau embodies what economists call “internalities” and “externalities” — acts that affect oneself only and acts that also affect others. Over-imbibing patrons generate internalities: they may hurt their liver and give themselves a throbbing day-after headache.But bar patrons can be noisy, occasionally rowdy, and sometimes display aggression. These are externalities. Though not welcome, they are tolerated rites of summer in Canada. The rights of individuals to imbibe are not trumped by the externalities that may attend drinking.The exercise of another individual right sees people drive their gas-guzzlers a few feet from the sidewalk patios, spewing various toxins towards the imbibers as they cruise up and down the crowded boulevards.All bets are off, however, and all rights cast aside when it comes to vaping. Almost universally, our regulators of behaviour throw vapes into the same category as combustible cigarettes and ban their use in these spaces. Without good cause and without needing to justify itself, the nanny state simply proclaims its concern for humanity and sets out to change the behaviour of others while turning a blind eye to the dangers its own actions create.What are the internalities and externalities of tobacco substitutes? Where do the rights of the state begin and end?In terms of internalities, though drugs and stimulants should generally be avoided or at least consumed in moderation, for almost two decades the U.K.’s Royal College of Physicians has been telling us that vapes involve at most five per cent of the risk of combustibles. Other respected medical and public health bodies say the same. Researchers from Canada’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health place the danger of vaping at a small fraction of the danger of alcohol.So internalities are not a justification for government heavy-handedness in regulating vaping. As for externalities, what about the rights of non-vapers sitting close by on the patio? Again, there is little to be concerned with. The volume of ambient vapour is about 15 per cent of the volume of smoke from a cigarette. This is because cigarette smoke is 85 “side-stream,” meaning it spreads directly from the cigarette without first being inhaled. But there is zero side-stream vapour from e-cigarettes. And because exhaled vapour contains a minute fraction of the toxins in smoke, and in reduced concentrations, the “danger” from sitting next to a vaper is miniscule — likely about one per cent that of sitting next to a smoker.This advertisement has not loaded yet.This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.I don’t know if that’s more or less than the danger from the exhausts of vehicles cruising by or, for that matter, from sautéeing a steak on the barbecue in our very short summers. But before over-riding the rights of individuals, government regulators should have to demonstrate excessive damage from vaping and so far they have not.In the absence of serious externalities, I suggest tavern-owners be free to notify their patrons that outdoor vaping will be tolerated on specific evenings of the week. Just as we have Taco Tuesdays and Wine-lovers’ Wednesdays, let’s have Vendredi Vaping as we cheer on the Habs.Patrons who dislike an occasional, largely harmless, waft of melon or blueberry should express their disapproval by moving their own bacchanalian pleasures to a purer environment.Ian Irvine, an economics professor at Concordia University, has worked as a consultant on alcohol and tobacco to both the private sector and the federal government. Some of his recent research has been funded by Global Action to End Smoking.Notice for the Postmedia NetworkThis website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. 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