If Assemblyman Marc Levine gets his way, the only smoke you’ll be smelling in California’s parks and beaches will be coming from BBQs or late-night raves.
Assembly Bill 1718, The Marin County lawmaker’s bill to ban smoking statewide at these outdoor spots, was approved this week by the State Assembly. It now heads to the State Senate for further consideration.
This bill is similar to legislation authored by Levine last year that would have banned smoking at designated picnic areas on state beaches and state parks. That bill was approved by the Legislature with bipartisan support, but was vetoed by former Gov. Jerry Brown.
“California’s diverse environment and ecosystems sets it apart from many other states,” Levine said in a news release. “Park visitors come from around the world to enjoy California’s natural resources and protected land. Unfortunately, it is common to find cigarette butts discarded on beaches or around popular areas in state parks. In fact, cigarettes are the most common form of litter and are improperly disposed of 65 percent of the time.
“Smoking is a danger to the health of California’s people, land and water,” he added. “Just as California banned smoking at indoor venues decades ago, it is time that visitors enjoying our state beaches and state parks be protected from the harm caused by smoking. We have waited long enough to protect the Golden State’s public health and natural environment. The time to act is now.”
If Levine’s bill makes it into law, it would become one of the most dramatic and sweeping statewide regulations in a place already chock full of anti-smoking rules, many of them passed in recent decades by local authorities in tobacco-weary towns from San Diego to Eureka.
Here’s just a brief sampling on some of the more ambitious, and sometimes unusual, smoking bans already in place:
Loma Linda: “Loma Linda (‘Beautiful Hill’), originally known as ‘Mound City,’ has a history of being a health-conscious community,” according to the website for this city of 23,261 in San Bernardino County. “The Seventh-day Adventist Church purchased the Loma Linda Resort hotel from a group of businessmen and physicians from Los Angeles hospitals and converted it into the Loma Linda Sanitarium in 1905. Loma Linda has been a national center of health and wellness research for decades. In 1993, the Loma Linda became the first ‘smoke-free’ city in San Bernardino County.”
That means “there is no smoking in any street, in any alleyway, on any sidewalk, in any public parking lot, or anywhere else outdoors in Loma Linda, unless it is private property and there is no expectation of another person arriving (which amounts to a ban on smoking except in the wee hours of the night),” according to a blog post by Dr. Michael Siegel, an American tobacco control expert, public health researcher, and a professor of community health sciences at the Boston University School of Public Health.
Escondido: At the urging of local students, in 2009 this Southern California city banned smoking in parks, city open spaces, and trails, including the parking areas for these city properties. The city also bans smoking within 20 feet outside a city-owned building.
Berkeley: Smoking is banned on all commercially zoned sidewalks
Alameda: No smoking allowed at bus stops, ticket lines, ATMs and farmers markets.
Anywhere while inside a car with a child: California Health & Safety Code Sec. 118948 prohibits anyone from smoking in a car when anyone younger than 18 years old is inside the vehicle
Solana Beach: In 2003 this city became the first in the continental United States to ban smoking at the beach, according to Western City magazine. “Huntington Beach, Carpinteria, Laguna Beach, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Santa Cruz and many others have also followed suit.”
Hermosa Beach: In 2012, city officials and public health agency representatives gathered on the Pier Plaza to promote perhaps the most aggressive outdoor smoking ban in the region, according to EasyReaderNews, which covered the event. “The ban, approved by the City Council four months ago, nixes smoking at all of Hermosa’s outdoor dining areas, the popular Pier Plaza, the city pier, the Strand, the greenbelt parkway, and all city parks and parking lots. Smoking already is outlawed on the city-owned beach.”
“With our outdoor lifestyle, the small minority who smoke in public places threatens the health and safety of the majority of our residents, visitors and workers who don’t smoke,” Mayor Howard Fishman said at the time.
Oakland: Smoking is not allowed within 25 feet of an entrance, exit, window, or air intake of the building of most enclosed places where smoking is prohibited, including workplaces, service areas, common areas and no-smoking units of multi-unit housing. Smoking also is prohibited at bus stops and cab stands.
Pasadena: Since 2008, this Southern California city has banned smoking in certain outdoor areas, including shopping malls and service waiting lines as well as all public events, including the Rose Parade.
San Diego: In 2006, the city banned smoking at all city beaches and parks, including all beaches from La Jolla to Sunset Cliffs.
San Jose: In 2007, smoking was banned in all city parks.
Santa Barbara County and Goleta: Laws in Santa Barbara County and in the city of Goleta not only ban smoking within 30 feet of any building or area where smoking is prohibited, they also prohibit ashtrays within any 30-foot smoke-free area.
Santa Monica: In 2006, this Southern California coastal town banned smoking within 20 feet of entrances, exits or operable windows of a public building, such as City Hall. Smoking also is banned in parking lots, on the Third Street Promenade, on local beaches and on the Santa Monica Pier.
Disneyland: The last remaining smoking area in Disneyland was eliminated May 1. It was located near the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad attraction.
