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Sharing the Air, the Legal and Ethical Considerations of Extending Tobacco Legislation to Include Multiunit Dwellings in Alberta
Author(s) -
Stooke Victoria D.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
public health nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.471
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1525-1446
pISSN - 0737-1209
DOI - 10.1111/phn.12068
Subject(s) - legislation , public health , political science , bureaucracy , public administration , tobacco smoke , accountability , environmental health , politics , law , medicine , nursing
Abstract This study explores the legal and ethical considerations of extending tobacco legislation to include multiunit dwellings ( MUD s) in Alberta and the implications for public health nursing practice. The tobacco legislation in C anada currently protects individuals in public places and not private dwellings. In A lberta, there are over 1 million individuals living in MUD s who are exposed to environmental tobacco smoke. Children are particularly vulnerable to the negative health effects. As well, many apartment fires in A lberta are related to smoking which makes expanding tobacco legislation to include MUD s an important public health issue. There are many potential barriers to the adoption of this tobacco legislation including legal, ethical, and civil rights concerns, and the bureaucracy of the political process. This study articulates the position that it is both legal and ethical to expand provincial tobacco legislation to include MUD s after the consideration of individual civil rights and using the Canadian Nurses Association Code of Ethics for Registered Nurses (2008) as a guide for practice. Public health nurses must advocate for a change in the current legislation by becoming politically active and building community capacity to demonstrate accountability and promote social justice.