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A new, widespread ban on cigarette smoking in parks was approved by city council Tuesday as a byproduct of a debate on cannabis regulations.

In a 7-6 vote, council decided to restrict cannabis and tobacco smoking in any park where children are likely to congregate.

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That means as of Oct. 17, smoking of any substance will be banned in parks with a playground such as Hawrelak Park, parks with an off-leash area like Terwillegar Park, in parks with sports fields or in school yards.

Smokers will have to move to a nearby sidewalk or walking path outside the park to light up. That affects two-thirds of Edmonton’s 1,050 parks.

Smoking will also be banned on public sidewalks within 10 metres of a door, window, bus stop or patio. That means busy streets like Whyte Avenue, for example, will only have a couple of locations where smoking is permitted.

A ticket for breaking the bylaw is $250.

The debate was tense. Coun. Jon Dziadyk tried to get council to at least provide a designated smoking zone in Hawrelak Park, but that was pushed to early next year for debate. He was frustrated with the restrictions.

“We’re really just isolating people. It’s tyranny of the majority,” he said, adding that people are addicted to tobacco and need to smoke somewhere. If that’s in their backyard it will affect neighbours. “Now we’re saying you can only smoke in your living room and that’s going to expose more children.”

Coun. Sarah Hamilton also worried the rules are “squeezing people out of the public space.”

She met a young woman recently who was heading into the river valley to smoke a joint. It was a treatment for back pain but she faced a 45-minute bus ride to get home to smoke. She wanted a quiet place, not near children, but close enough to other pedestrians for safety.

Those people need options, Hamilton said. “We don’t have to make it easy for everyone but I think we might end up squeezing people into positions where they cannot help but violate the law. I don’t think that is a good law.”