A ban on smoking and vaping on all provincial government properties is now in effect.

The ban includes parking lots and vehicles, and applies to all employees, visitors, and contractors. Government hopes it will encourage more people to quit smoking, despite the challenges it poses.

Clinical pharmacist and Memorial University professor Dr. Leslie Philips says the ban is a positive move, but it needs to be focused on the right aspects.

She says this needs to be about helping smokes quit, but there also needs to be measures in place to help those who do not wish to quit abstain from smoking on the property.

She says part of this is providing free quit medications.

Dr. Philips says smoking is not a “bad habit”, it’s an addiction to nicotine, which she calls the “most addictive substance in society today”. She says if you are serous about helping people quit, they need unlimited access to free quit medication.