Calif. city imposes second-hand smoke law

[Mike]

Didn't see this on the Signs Page recently - a friend sent it to me. I do remember reading something about it when the law passed.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060316/us_nm/life_smoking_dc

Wed Mar 15, 7:38 PM ET

It's already banned in California offices, restaurants and on miles of beaches, but on Friday the rural city of Calabasas goes a step further.

The town has enacted the first law in the United States banning smoking on streets, at bus stops and in all other public places where people can be exposed to second-hand smoke.

"People have a right to breathe clean air. It is time to stand up to the challenges, the critics and to tobacco interests," Calabasas Mayor Barry Groveman told a news conference on Wednesday.

The law passed unanimously last month by the city council in the affluent canyon community of 21,000 people northwest of Los Angeles.

The ban means an end to smokers huddling outside the entrances of offices, lighting up on outdoor restaurant patios, or puffing on their apartment balconies if they are near common areas such as pools or laundry rooms.

From Friday, smokers will be asked to go to designated areas, or will be handed small cards outlining the new law. Persistent offenders risk fines of up to $500.

"We don't anticipate any problems with compliance. We are hearing nothing but positive comments," said Groveman, adding he hoped other U.S. cities would follow the lead of Calabasas.

Supported by the American Cancer Society, Heart Association and Lung Association, the Calabasas ordinance follows a landmark January decision by the California Air Resources Board to classify second-hand tobacco smoke as a "toxic air contaminant."

Health officials say a series of California laws dating back 10 years that banned smoking inside restaurants, bars and in the workplace are not enough to protect people from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke.

San Francisco already prohibits smoking in parks and Los Angeles and Malibu last year cracked down on the habit on more than 40 miles of beaches.

California's environmental health office estimates that as many as 5,500 nonsmoking Californians die annually of heart disease related to second-hand smoke, and as many as 1,100 from lung cancer.

"Having a smoking area in a restaurant is like having a peeing section in a swimming pool," said Dr. Thomas Pfeffer of the American Heart Association in Los Angeles.

 

[Lucy]

Wed Mar 15, 7:38 PM ET

"People have a right to breathe clean air. .

And drink non-toxic water, eat non-genetically modified foods in sufficient variety and quantity to maintain good health, have basic medical services available, have employment opportunities that pay enough to live on, have a decent education that doesn't seek to turn them into automatons, and so on and so on and so on...

How many Californians, Americans, and people the world over, aren't having these rights fulfilled? And the reasons for this are.....?

The law passed unanimously last month by the city council in the affluent canyon community of 21,000 people northwest of Los Angeles.

Perhaps I'm being a reverse snob, but that word affluent is sticking in my craw.
Perhaps I need to chug a tall glass of toxic water to wash it down.

"We don't anticipate any problems with compliance. We are hearing nothing but positive comments," said Groveman, adding he hoped other U.S. cities would follow the lead of Calabasas.

Compliance? Well, of course, it's firmly built into the American psyche now. Will other U.S.cities follow? Of course, it's been firmly built into the plans of the PTB. I mean, well, duh!

Supported by the American Cancer Society, Heart Association and Lung Association, the Calabasas ordinance follows a landmark January decision by the California Air Resources Board to classify second-hand tobacco smoke as a "toxic air contaminant."

Nice to see someone doing their job!

Health officials say a series of California laws dating back 10 years that banned smoking inside restaurants, bars and in the workplace are not enough to protect people from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke.

Curious there were not some actual statistics cited. After ten years there are surely stats to support the validity and wisdom, or insufficiently and lack of wisdom, of passing those anti-smoking laws.

California's environmental health office estimates that as many as 5,500 nonsmoking Californians die annually of heart disease related to second-hand smoke, and as many as 1,100 from lung cancer.

Why are they only citing an estimation? Aren't they able to give factual numbers?

As to the numbers: Here are some questions (in no particular order) for environmentalists and law-makers in California:

How many Californians die annually in the phony War on Terror?
How many Californians commit suicide each year?
How many workers in California die each year due to unsafe workplaces?
How many college kids in California die each year from binge drinking?
How many Californians can't find a job that pays enough to live above the poverty level?
How many children in California die each year from reasons related to the lack of basic necessities of life, aka poverty?
How many children in California die each year from child abuse?
How many children under Social Services' supervision in California. simply disappear each year?

"Having a smoking area in a restaurant is like having a peeing section in a swimming pool," said Dr. Thomas Pfeffer of the American Heart Association in Los Angeles.

My response to this comment is not fit for a public forum.

Rant over.
....................
Edit: This smoker just got good 'laugh-noir' from reading the
"Vegetarianism?" thread here on the forum. Especially this entry by Laura:
http://www.cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php?topic=702.msg3744#msg3744
My good mood has been restored!
For those who decide to check out that thread:
Don't miss Shane's photo evidence! :D

 

[Justin]

Nice post Lucy!

Since they are so concerned about the air quality in this city, perhaps they should ban automobiles, factories, fireplace fires, campfires, and pretty much anything that produces unnecessary smoke. :)

 

[Lucy]

Since they are so concerned about the air quality in this city, perhaps they should ban automobiles, factories, fireplace fires, campfires, and pretty much anything that produces unnecessary smoke. :)

No kidding! After all, by their 'logic' that makes sense! As I remember, Calabasas is an affluent and mostly rural enclave where people ride their horses to the store when they're not tooling around in their sports cars and SUV's. And as for pollution-- an 8 lane freeway runs alongside the town. I don't imagine any of them would want to give up their horses and stop the poop polution, or give up their vehicles and give up the convenience and status they provide. And then there's all that self righteous hot air. We can be pretty sure they're not willing to cut back on that! :D