“People got mad enough when they couldn’t smoke in bars anymore or bingo parlours,” said Sgt. Bryant Wood, a police officer in the eastern Ontario town of Port Hope.

“Now you’re telling them they can’t smoke in cars. At some point somebody’s going to snap along the way here.”

Nova Scotia is the only other jurisdiction in the country to have a similar law, though others are considering it. Ontario had previously banned smoking in all enclosed public places and workplaces before the new legislation took effect late last month.

Wood’s comments came a day after one of his colleagues, Const. Tammie Hartford, pulled over 20-year-old Port Hope resident Tory Ashton and wrote him a $155 ticket for smoking in his vehicle with a minor present.

Ashton was transporting several passengers, including a 15-year-old girl. While the ticket was being written, the girl – who is a smoker – got out of the car and legally lit up a cigarette.

There is no law prohibiting a 15-year-old from smoking; it is only illegal for someone under 19 years of age to purchase or sell tobacco.

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