The governor of Oklahoma recently signed the Clean Air in Restaurants Act, which will channel revenue from the state’s tobacco tax toward a 50% rebate for individual restaurants with separated ventilated smoking rooms that convert their restaurants into smoke-free environments by January 2013. If restaurant owners are smart and realize that their state will likely pass a public smoking ban and will soon require the change, this should be a huge incentive for them to do it now. Great idea, Oklahoma.
Smoke-free San Antonio?
Assuming San Antonio Spurs fans have yet to recover from their disappointing NBA playoff sweep by the Phoenix Suns, here’s something they can smile about: The city of San Antonio may soon become smoke-free. A local TV station reported that the city’s mayor is on board with the change, as are many restaurant customers. In my mind, this is a big step toward making Texas a smoke-free state; if the state’s other major urban centers follow suit, I don’t see how the rural population can stall a statewide smoking ban much longer.
Dilemma in Toronto
For the past four years, St. Joseph’s Hospital in Toronto has abided by the Smoke Free Ontario Act, which prohibits smoking within 9 meters of hospitals. However, people who live directly across the street from the hospital have been complaining about secondhand smoke near their homes:
“Smokers sit on the grass by the sidewalk or stand anywhere near the hospital entrance. Late Wednesday morning, at least eight smokers — including two patients with IV stands and a healthcare worker — stood directly across Jackowski’s home. Dozens of butts were stubbed out on the sidewalk and in the grass…She said there probably isn’t a single moment from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. when someone isn’t standing by the sidewalk smoking.”I don’t think I need to explain why smoking around hospitals is absolutely asinine, but I do think that this article exemplifies how smoking is simply unacceptable in certain communities. So, if smoking isn’t allowed on hospital grounds, and people shouldn’t be allowed to smoke near others’ homes, where should Toronto draw the line for smoking? …Nowhere! One day, we shouldn’t have to draw any more lines because smoking will likely be banned in all public spaces.
Crescent City’s Public Area Smoking Ban
Crescent City, a small city in northern California, is ahead of the game in mitigating outdoor secondhand smoke. Starting in June,
“…people will not be allowed to smoke within 25 feet of playgrounds or entrances of buildings that are open to the general public. It also prohibits smoking in all parks within Crescent City’s jurisdiction and at events such as farmers’ markets, parades or festivals.”This may be the closest thing I’ve seen to a total outdoor ban, so if I were a smoker living in Crescent City, I wouldn’t even try to light up outside my home. That said, the ordinance also makes it illegal for smokers to “intimidate or threaten” people who ask them to comply with the policy. Even better!
Smoking in Santa Monica
And now, for a firsthand report… I was visiting my sister at UCLA this past weekend, and on Saturday night, we went down to the Third Street Promenade in downtown Santa Monica. As we were searching for a restaurant with a reasonable wait, I noticed several “no smoking” signs that applied to the entire promenade. Skeptical of the policy’s efficacy, I noticed a couple of women smoking. They seemed considerate enough to avoid the crowds of people walking on the promenade (or maybe the crowds were avoiding them), but hey, they were breaking the rule. Conveniently enough, I had just passed two authoritative-looking men wearing community volunteer badges, so I asked them if smoking is allowed here. They said that smokers have to light up elsewhere, so I pointed the women out to them, and they asked the women to move.
Call me a “tattletale”—I don’t care. At this point in time, outdoor smoke-free policies largely rely on self-enforcement, so people who are bothered by secondhand smoke in places where smoking is prohibited should take matters into their own hands, or else the policies will lose effect.
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