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Health & Fitness

A "No" Vote to Ban Smoking

As one member of the Lakewood City Council, I will vote against banning smoking in Lakewood’s parks. 

As presented to the City Council by the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board and the Parks Director, the premise for why smoking should be banned in the parks rests on the belief that second hand smoke is harmful.

This premise is not supported by conclusive research.

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Research into the effects of second hand smoke is clear in that it is harmful in enclosed areas (e.g., bars, public transportation, health care facilities, et cetera).  Since 1964 the Surgeon General’s office has conducted 34 studies that validate this conclusion.

What those in favor of the ban do not mention, however, is that at least 260 studies have been conducted on the effects of second hand smoke in open areas.

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In 2013, Environmental Health Perspectives reported in a review of the literature that in these studies there was a lack of understanding of the effects of second hand smoke in open areas and that further study was needed.

In other words, the proposal before the Council argues that the research done on indoor second hand smoke should be used as the criteria to ban smoking in outdoor areas, where the research is inconclusive. 

Furthermore, in 1985 Washington State enacted the Clean Indoor Air Act.  This occurred as a result of research documenting the effects of indoor second hand smoking.

The Act also defined what a “public place” is, and in that definition there is no mention of open areas – or parks.

In 2005, Washington voters passed the Washington Smoking Ban, or Initiative 901, which amended the Clean Indoor Air Act.

In Section 2 of the ban, “public place” is clearly defined.  Again, there is no mention of open areas – such as parks - in the language.

There is another problem with the proposal for banning smoking in the parks.  My objection here has  to do with consistency of thought.

In the same proposal that bans smoking in the parks before the City Council is language that will allow groups to drink alcohol in the park – provided they pay a fee.

In other words, groups of individuals can pay the City to enjoy alcohol in the parks but smokers cannot enjoy a cigarette or cigar or pipe in the same park.

It appears as though the money to be made from the fees collected by the City that allows individuals to drink in the park trumps the individual’s right to smoke in the park.

There is no question – as there is no question about the effects of second hand smoke in open areas - that someone acting under the influence of alcohol does present a threat to health.

Nevertheless, the City apparently wants to ban smoking while promoting drinking.

One vice pays and is allowed; the other vice does not pay and is banned.

As the Wall Street Journal reported in a recent story (February 5), during the past 20 years smoking among adults has declined in this country from 42 to 18.1 percent.  In the same article, it was reported that the American Tobacco Industry’s sales fell another four percent, continuing a downward trend in sales and market share.  And last, smoking among nine to twelve-year-old children has declined from 34 percent to 11 percent.

In other words, education programs warning the public about the dangers of smoking and tobacco products are having a clear and sustained effect on diminishing the number of smokers.

Given the fact that there are questions about the validity of the studies conducted on second hand smoke in open areas; given that the current law does not define “public place” as an open area; given that drinking alcohol will be allowed while smoking will not be allowed; and given that educational programs are making headway in decreasing the numbers of those who smoke, I will not vote to deprive smokers of their right to smoke in our parks. 

 

 

 

 


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