Kids pick up used butts
Lighting up a cigarette in a Santa Monica park will soon be a punishable offense.
The Santa Monica City Council approved a ban on smoking in any areas of the city’s 15 public parks, hoping to protect children from the harmful effects of second-hand cigarette smoke. Those caught breaking the law face a $250 fine when the ordinance becomes law in 60 days.
Residents who spoke at the City Council meeting Tuesday said young children playing in the parks are being harmed by smokers, many of whom leave cigarette butts lying on the ground.
Dr. Laurie Kaufman said when she took her son to a Santa Monica park and placed him in a sand box, the child found a cigarette butt and put it into his mouth before she could stop him.
Another resident, Lou Mensch, told a similar story to the City Council, and he said cigarette butts have been found to contain many carcinogens.
“So here they are, picking up these little toxic-waste bins and out of childish curiosity, putting them into their mouths,” he said.
The Santa Monica Recreation and Parks Commission unanimously voted last June to recommend the City Council ban smoking in all current and future public parks.
Already the cities of Beverly Hills, Carson, Huntington Beach and El Monte have taken advantage of a January 1, 2002, state law that allows municipalities to extend smoke-free zones from playgrounds to entire parks.
City officials say they will enforce the ban by posting signs in the city’s parks and educating the community about the new ordinance. The same approach resulted in a nearly complete compliance with a similar smoking ban enacted by the City of Beverly Hills, city officials said.
“We talk about smokers’ rights, and we want them to be able to still enjoy those,” said Robert Berger, a member of the Committee for Smoke-free Zones, “but what about the rights of the non-smokers, many of whom have harsh reactions and allergies to tobacco smoke?”
Councilwoman Pam O’Connor voted against the ordinance, saying she felt the state’s law banning smoking on playground areas went far enough.
But Mayor Richard Bloom said the advantages of forbidding smoking in parks far outweighs the rights of smokers.
“We all know, unfortunately, in our own lives someone who smokes,” he said. “Some do it by choice, others are stuck in an addiction. But when you measure the benefits of a smoke-free environment in our parks against their rights, there’s just no comparison.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 13, 2003. Read the original PDF.