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Macleans - Why tobacco is evil but booze is just fine - FROM THE EDITORS

Political science isn’t just something you study in university. Politicians have their own way of interpreting scientific evidence that tends to be light on facts and method, and heavy on emotion, opinion and self-interest. The result being, the science behind public policy often makes no sense at all.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty revealed this particular version of political science recently when he was explaining his government’s looming ban on “power walls” — retail displays of cigarettes behind the counters of corner stores. “Science has demonstrated that these power walls are effective at enticing kids [to smoke],” he told reporters this week, “so we want to get beyond that.” Case closed.

We’re not about to argue that advertising doesn’t play a role in smoking, but McGuinty’s new rules strike us as rather, how should we say . . . unscientific. Stores that sell cigarettes must not only hide their product from view, but place it in a “single-package dispensing gravity-fed device” with an opening one foot high by two feet wide that can only be seen by the store clerk. In the name of science we are to believe that, like the sight of a lady’s ankle in a previous era, the mere glimpse of a pack of cigarettes will bring on a paroxysm of uncontrollable urges. This isn’t science, it’s political symbolism.

Ontario is not the only province to adopt such measures. Manitoba, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia already banned cigarette displays. Quebec has a similar law due shortly. And many other provinces are either considering a ban or have created lesser restrictions. So what makes Ontario’s move noteworthy is not the empty symbolism of banning power walls — everyone is doing it — but rather the amount of hypocrisy it mixes with it.

Besides regulating tobacco sales, Ontario also has a hand in a few other addictive habits, like gambling and booze. The hugely profitable government-owned Liquor Control Board of Ontario is one of the largest individual purchasers of alcoholic beverages in the world, with a provincial monopoly in hard liquor and dominance in the wine business. LCBO customers are treated to lavish boutique-style stores, Air Miles and even a free glossy magazine. One thing you won’t see in an LCBO: a single-package dispensing gravity-fed device.