Vancouver Parks & Beaches: Already Smoke-free
Back in April, I wrote a lengthy post about the Vancouver Park Board enacting a smoking ban at parks and beaches, thereby taking a big step toward eradicating secondhand smoke in its beautiful city. A few weeks ago, I ran across an article that mentions how the city has been experiencing unusually hot and dry weather--similar to the climate that my home state of Arizona has every summer, sometimes resulting in uncontrollable wildfires*--and has temporarily instated a smoking ban to prevent these. Alluding to the need for a permanent smoking ban (coming September 1), another source says that park visitors and beach-goers are obeying the temporary ban. But will compliance levels change in a few days, when the ban officially prioritizes public health over environmental hazard? Let's hope not.
*Although I've never made a point about this, the risk of devastating wildfires is yet another reason for why smoking should be banned in public spaces.
"San Antonio Joins the Fight Against Secondhand Smoke Through Clean Air Ordinance"
It's official, San Antonio, the second-largest city in Texas and one of the largest in the nation is now smoke-free. As this article mentions, workers will no longer have to tolerate secondhand smoke at their jobs...but the San Antonio City Council isn't stopping there! As of August 19, 2011, the ordinance will eliminate current exemptions for bars, pool and bingo halls, comedy clubs and restaurants with enclosed smoking areas, areas within 20 feet of outdoor public transit stations, and the entire San Antonio Zoo. Talk about a comprehensive ban. Apparently LULAC's claim that the ban would be an infringement on civil rights (see my post from July 7) wasn't so convincing.
Santa Monica!
In May, I wrote about my visit to Santa Monica and how the city is doing a lot to reduce public smoking. Well, a few weeks ago, the Santa Monica City Council approved a smoking ban that prohibits smoking everywhere within 25 feet of multi-unit housing structures, allegedly attempting to prevent secondhand smoke from drifting between patios and balconies. This "boundary ban," as I will call it, brings to mind various campus no-smoking policies (including that of UC Berkeley), which are good measures, but are extremely difficult to enforce. But hey, I'll take it.
The more exciting news, in my opinion, is that smoking will soon be banned on the Santa Monica Pier--one of the few places I like to visit in the entire LA area.
Other Up-and-Coming Smoke-free News
- The Boston Housing Authority is considering a smoking ban that would prevent people from lighting up inside their apartments. This would be nothing short of groundbreaking for a city of this size to enact an ordinance of this caliber. See this post for my take on the issue.
- The state of Arkansas seems to have taken a page out of North Carolina's playbook (can you tell I'm watching pre-season football?) and banned smoking on all public university campuses. It's called the Clean Air on Campus Act, and it's the future of American academia.
- As a football team, they may not be up to par these days, but the Michigan Wolverines, who play in the largest college football stadium in the country, are still "kicking butts."
- According to a CDC study, the number of movie scenes with cigarettes in top-grossing films is half of what it was four years ago.
"Like it or not, tobacco is not heroin. It is allowed as a legal activity and to prohibit it on private property, we think it's unconstitutional." --Joseph O'Leary, a Michigan activist who wants to challenge the constitutionality of the state's recently enacted smoking ban.Interestingly enough, a North Carolina judge recently upheld the constitutionality of NC's smoking ban...Good luck, Joseph!!
Campus Tobacco Ban
I'll end this post with a topic that might make some of my smoking audience appreciate, or at least understand, my opinions a bit more. As I've said before, I don't favor smoking bans because I want the law to tell people what they can and cannot do. I favor smoking bans in the interest of improving public health. For this reason, I do not completely endorse the move to make Black Hills State University entirely tobacco-free. Yes, tobacco use that doesn't have secondhand effects (e.g., chewing tobacco) is still a public health issue, yes, it is often repulsive, and yes, smokeless tobacco can act as a "gateway" to cigarette smoking, but we cannot reasonably expect the public to accept laws that primarily target the health consequences of individuals' choices.
That said, I would be among the last people to protest this policy.
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