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Credit Kelly Dunleavy
Fairfax residents irritated by second-hand smoke in their own apartments – and, if Wednesday night’s town council meeting was any indication, there are plenty of them – may not have to worry anymore.
The Fairfax Town Council approved an ordinance yesterday that would limit smoking in multi-unit apartment buildings and in certain outdoor areas – near entrance ways to business and at bus stops, for example.
“The studies have shown that secondhand smoke and what they call thirdhand smoke can have profound health effects to folks who are exposed to it because they happen to live in a multi-unit facility,” said Mayor Larry Bragman, who brought the ordinance forward after a number of public meetings over the last year to gather input from the community.
Thirdhand smoke is the term for the tobacco residue that stays on walls, furniture and other surfaces even after a smoker leaves an area.
The ordinance initially proposed to exempt bars from requirements that would ban smoking near business entrances, but after a number of community members spoke about their concerns having to walk near areas with extensive smoking, the council decided not to exempt bars.
“Make this law tougher,” urged resident Yvette Wakefield.
The outdoor patio at Peri’s got a call out by more than one resident as an area with excessive smoking. The council discussed the possibility of urging the business to install a filtration system that would limit the amount of smoke that affected residents walking nearby.
Nearly a half dozen residents also spoke about living in multi-unit apartment complexes, near neighbors who smoke right outside their windows. Sam Rosenfield said his neighbor’s wife won’t let him smoke indoors, so the neighbor smokes out on the patio and it comes straight through Rosenfield’s window. On hot days, like this week, he has to keep the windows closed and has no air-conditioning.
The ordinance that was finally approved would require that all complexes with four units or more would be required to have 75 percent of their units designated as smoke-free and should segregate those units as much as possible. The ordinance also bans smoking in any outdoors places (unless otherwise noted) where food or drink is sold, near any entrances or exits of enclosed spaces where smoking is already prohibited, in public parks and at public events.
The council also pointed out that 75 percent was the minimum required to be smoke-free in multi-unit housing, but owners and property managers could make more units in their properties smoke-free.
“There’s no legal right to smoke,” said Pam Granger from the American Lung Association in response to questions about whether owners could ban smoking in outdoor areas in a complex.
The property manager from Sherwood Oaks Apartments said she has been working on advertising the complex as smoke-free, which has helped the quality of life in the complex, and that having the backing of the town would help her.
“This is a measured approach,” said Council Member Lew Tremaine, who had opposed the initial ordinance brought forward – arguing that it was too strident and trampled on smoker’s rights.
Fairfax now joins Larkspur and Novato as the other towns in Marin with smoking ordinances in multi-unit housing. The county is currently considering a similar ordinance.
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Larkspur's Tougher No-Smoking Rules are a Healthful Measure
Marin Independent Journal Editorial THE LARKSPUR City Council's decision to get tougher on the potentially harmful effects secondhand tobacco smoke is a strong step toward fostering a more healthful environment. View Full Story
THE LARKSPUR City Council's decision to get tougher on the potentially harmful effects secondhand tobacco smoke is a strong step toward fostering a more healthful environment.
The City Council has given its initial OK to an ordinance that would bar residents of apartment and condominium complexes that have shared walls or ventilation systems from lighting up, unless they reside in areas specifically designated as "smoking" areas.
The overall goal is to reduce nonsmokers' involuntary exposure to the well-documented harmful health effects of tobacco smoke. If, in addition, Larkspur's law helps smokers decide to give up cigarettes and other tobacco products, so much the better. But Larkspur's law is aimed at helping make living environments healthier for those, young and old, who choose not to smoke, but are potentially exposed to sidestream smoke from neighbors who light up.
During the 1980s, then-United States Surgeon General C. Everett Koop said the choice of smokers to light up "cannot interfere with nonsmokers' right to breathe air free of tobacco smoke. The right of smokers to smoke ends where their behavior affects the health and well-being of others."
Larkspur's ordinance seeks to protect nonsmokers' rights. The goal is to protect the health of those who have made the choice to avoid the harmful health effects of smoking. Mayor Larry Chu is correct when he says the law would not be needed if neighbors used common sense.
But there are enough smokers who don't that makes a city law necessary. Larkspur's ordinance, if it wins final approval, would be stronger than the secondhand-smoke law Novato put on its books in 2008. That law allows 50 percent of the units in a complex to be designated to allow smoking.
Larkspur's ordinance provides landlords and condominium complexes with the option to set aside a section of their complex, up to 20 percent of their units, as smoking areas. This is statistically generous in a county where only 12 percent of the residents are smokers, according to a recent national study. Statewide and nationwide, the percentage of smokers is 15 percent.
The city's proposal also gives local landlords ample time to comply with the tougher no-smoking rules. Although anti-smoking advocates may consider Larkspur's ordinance overdue, it is important to consider that the city has been diligent and public in its approach.
The proposed law should not come as a surprise to tenants or property owners. The City Council has been holding meetings on the issue since October. Local residents and landlords have been given a chance to help shape the new rules.
But as Dr. Koop said three decades ago, the right of a nonsmoker trumps that of a smoker when the "right to breathe" clean air is at issue. Larkspur's law defends and protects nonsmokers' right to a healthful living space. |
Supervisor Charles McGlashan
The Smoke-Free Marin Coalition honors the late Supervisor Charles McGlashan for being a champion for smoke-free outdoor spaces to reduce second-hand smoke exposure and to lower youth smoking rates by changing the social norm around tobacco use. While he is most remembered for his environmental initiatives, few people remember that he also stood up to the tobacco industry and that his words had an international impact. Charles McGlashan’s statement during the public hearing on the County ordinance was published in a World Health Organization training guide for the staffs of Ministers of Health of 19 countries held in Cairo, Egypt in November 2007:
“This smoke-free ordinance represents a shift to the importance of the collective will (as it pertains to health, safety and welfare) as compared to the individual abuse of free will. Humanity has entered a new era in which corporations such as the tobacco industry are held accountable for their destructive products. Humanity has reached a point where the collective free will is no longer tolerating the abuse of the individual free will when the cost becomes too great for all. Personal, political, and public will- have been fueled by growing awareness of the human right to clean air, supported by science.” Charles McGlashan, November 2006
The Smoke-Free Marin Coalition conveys condolences to Carol Misseldine, to the McGlashan family and to the County of Marin for the loss of a champion who was a courageous leader for public health as well as environmental purity.
Smoke-Free Marin Coalition
jenniec@prodigy.net
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Surgeon General Report
How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease
The Report
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Full Report: How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease
Using hyper-realistic animation illustrating how smoking causes a heart attack, this 30-second public service announcement (PSA) features the U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Regina M. Benjamin.
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Check out the new
The “Green and Tobacco-Free Cities Blog Spot” provides an on-line community site to engage in strategy and information exchange as we collectively advocate for green and healthy environments.”
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Be sure to check out our newest section of apartments in Marin County with smoke-free considerations. |
2009 State of Tobacco Control Report
The American Lung Association released the 2009 State of Tobacco Control (SOTC) Report that grades all 50 states and the District of Columbia on four key tobacco control areas: (1) Tobacco Prevention and Control Spending; (2) Smokefree Air; (3) Cigarette Tax; and (4) Cessation Coverage.
Below are the grades for California:
Tobacco Prevention and Control Spending: F
Smokefree Air: A
Cigarette Tax: D
Cessation Coverage: D
In conjunction with this national report, the American Lung Association in California released the 2009 SOTC California Local Grades Report that includes grades for cities and counties in California. Local grades were issued for 373 cities and 34 counties, more than 75 percent of the local jurisdictions in the state. These grades are based on standardized statewide criteria and were awarded in three categories: (1) Smokefree Outdoor Air; (2) Smokefree Housing; and (3) Reducing Sales of Tobacco Products. These three grades were then averaged for one Overall Tobacco Control Grade. The purpose of the SOTC Local Grades Report is to increase public knowledge about local laws that help protect residents from the deadly toll of tobacco and to encourage local leadership where improvement is needed.
To view the full reports, including national, state and local grades, please visit www.californialung.org/raisethegrade. The SOTC Local Grades Report includes the local grade details for cities and counties in California, the local grade criteria, an executive summary and a table showing the grades for the top ten most populous cities. In addition, attached is a 2009 State of Tobacco Control Q&A that provides further background information about the report, the grading criteria and why certain cities and counties did not receive grades.
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Two Marin Hospitals Set to Begin Smoking Ban
By Richard Halstead
Marin Independent Journal, Published November 19, 2009
Two Marin hospitals have chosen Thursday, the date of the 34th Great American Smokeout, as the day to initiate a total ban on smoking on their campuses.
It has been years since anyone was allowed to smoke inside either Novato Community Hospital or Kentfield Rehabilitation and Specialty Hospital. Beginning Thursday,those two hospitals will begin enforcing a campus-wide ban on smoking that will include property inside and outside buildings, including parking lots and vehicles in parking lots. State law banned smoking from all workplaces in 1995.
To demonstrate that it means business, Novato Community Hospital on wednesday removed its last refuge for employees and hospital visitors who smoked, a three-sided structure affectionately known as the "smoking shack."
"We're putting signs throughout the campus so everyone knows what is happening, and if people are smoking we're nicely going to ask them not to smoke," said Mary Strebig, a spokeswoman for Novato Community Hospital.
Strebig estimated that only about a dozen of the hospital's employees smoke. To help them make the transition, the hospital planned a seminar Thursday with smoking cessation experts.
"We're going to make this as painless as possible," strebig said.
Chris Yarnovich, a spokesman for the Kentfield hospital, said special assistance is also being provided there to help people kick the habit.
Marin General Hospital is now the only hospital in the county that continues to allow smoking in outside areas. Kaiser Permanente campuses adopted smoke-free policies statewide more than a year ago.
Kathie Graham, a spokeswoman for Marin General Hospital, said that while the hospital supports smoking cessation, efforts and provides help to employees who want to quit smoking, it has chosen to focus its efforts elsewhere.
""We just finished a major renovation on the fifth floor, converting from double rooms to single rooms," Graham said. "That took a big effort on the part of many, many departments at the hospital."
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Contact richard Halstead via e-mail at rhalstead@marinij.com.
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Novato Advance, Published: Wednesday, November 18, 2009 1:19 PM PST
Starting Thursday, smoking will be forbidden on the campus of the Novato Community Hospital.
The hospital timed its smoking ban to coincide with the day of the American Cancer Society’s annual Great American Smokeout.
The ban applies to the hospital’s entire campus, which includes two office buildings near the hospital itself.
“When you drive across the bridge, you’ve entered a smoke-free (zone),” said hospital spokeswoman Mary Strebig. Smoking will even be forbidden inside vehicles.
The idea to snuff out smoking at the hospital came from Chief Administrative Officer Anne Hosfeld. Smoke-free hospitals are a growing trend, Strebig said. It’s something that’s recommended by the commission that accredits hospitals, she said.
“We don’t see doctors smoking anymore. We have very few employees who smoke,” Strebig said.
A former bus shelter used as a "smoking hut" in the hospital’s north parking lot is being dismantled and given to a contractor who will use it as an aviary.
– Staff Report
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Speaker explores smoking limits
By TCT Staff
Twin City Times, Published: Wednesday, October 7, 2009 12:26 PM PDT
The Corte Madera Women’s Club will host a potluck lunch followed by speaker on October 13, at the Rec Center, 498 Tamalpais Drive. Lunch begins at noon, and guests are asked to bring something to share. Drinks, utensils, plates, etc. are provided by the club, and RSVPs are requested by going to 2ndTuesday@CMWomensClub.org, or calling 927-9462.
The speakers on the 13th will be Jennie Cook and Elizabeth Emerson, talking about the benefits to public health of public limits on smoking.
Cook, past chairman of the national board of the American Cancer Society, is the chair of the Marin Smoke Free Coalition. She has been a resident of Marin for 45 years and a cancer survivor since 1965. Her involvement during this time period includes tobacco control and advocacy at the local, state, national and international levels. Emerson has been working in Marin County’s Tobacco Related Disease Control Program for 19 years. She is also a Marin resident and responsible for most if not all of the actions to make Marin smoke-free.
In Marin, the county and the cities of Novato and Ross have expanded restrictions on smoking to include multihousing units. Novato’s is one of the strongest in the state and has met with unqualified success, according to Cook. Public officials hear from residents of multifamily dwellings that their lives are meaningfully improved by the elimination of second-hand smoke from their balconies and common areas. In some cases, this has even eliminated the problem of second-hand smoke entering their dwelling units through common heating or ventilation ducts.
It’s not uncommon for an elected official to hear from citizens in the community asking for help — employees leave a restaurant, for example, to take a smoke break, and end up polluting the common area of a business next door. Current regulations in our area curtail smoking within a business, but allow it around doorways and outdoor eating areas. Some jurisdictions provide a 20-foot minimum distance to an adjacent doorway where smoking is restricted.
The Marin Smoke Free Coalition would like to see all jurisdictions within Marin County expand their public health regulations to protect adjacent businesses and adjacent living units from second-hand-smoke pollution.
Cook and Emerson will describe the rationale for businesses and local governments to subscribe to greater restrictions on smoking. They will provide information on what apartment owners and shopping center management have found after additional protections have been employed. There will be opportunity for Q&A.
RSVP at 2ndTuesday@CMWomensClub.org, or call 927-9462.
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Obama Signs Anti-Smoking Bill
Into Law
In a move hailed by anti-smoking advocates as a major victory in the fight to reduce tobacco-related fatalities, President Obama on Monday signed into law legislation giving the U.S. government broad powers to regulate tobacco products.
"Each day, 1,000 young people under the age of 18 become new regular, daily smokers, and almost 90 percent of all smokers began at or before their 18th birthday," Mr. Obama said before signing the legislation. "I know; I was one of these teenagers. And so I know how difficult it can be to break this habit when it's been with you for a long time."
The bill puts tobacco under the authority of the Food And Drug Administration, which will now regulate tobacco as a drug. A new entity within the FDA – the Center for Tobacco Products – will oversee the regulation, and it will have the power to mandate lower nicotine levels in tobacco products.
The legislation also bans candy-flavored cigarettes by October 2009, requires the full disclosure to the FDA of all ingredients and additives in cigarettes by January 2010, bans youth-focused marketing of cigarettes (including sponsorship of sporting events and clothing and cigarette giveaways), prohibits the use of misleading terms like "light" and "mild" on tobacco products by July 2010, and mandates new and stronger warning labels on tobacco products by July 2011.
Watch CBS Videos Online"Kids today don't just start smoking for no reason," the president said Monday. "They're aggressively targeted as customers by the tobacco industry. They're exposed to a constant and insidious barrage of advertising where they live, where they learn, and where they play. Most insidiously, they are offered products with flavorings that mask the taste of tobacco and make it even more tempting."
"Today, thanks to the work of Democrats and Republicans, health care and consumer advocates, the decades-long effort to protect our children from the harmful effects of tobacco has emerged victorious," he added. "Today, change has come to Washington."
The president noted that the legislation does not ban tobacco products, thus allowing "adults to make their own choices." But he said it would mean a reduction in "the number of American children who pick up a cigarette and become adult smokers."
Still, he said, "our work to protect our children and improve the public's health is not complete."
"Today, tobacco is the leading preventable cause of death not just in America, but also in the world," said Mr. Obama. "If current trends continue, 1 billion people will die from tobacco-related illnesses this century. And so the United States will continue to work with the World Health Organization and other nations to fight this epidemic on a global basis. But no matter how long or how hard this fight may be, what's happening today gives us hope."
He added that the bill passed "despite decades of lobbying and advertising by the tobacco industry."
"We're taking another big and very important step, a step that will save lives and dollars," said Mr. Obama.
Marin's poor anti-smoking grades
By Jennie R. Cook
Posted: 01/27/2009 12:05:15 AM PST
The American Lung Association just released its 2008 State of Tobacco Control Local Grades. With a few exceptions (county areas, Ross and Novato), most Marin communities received grades of D's and F's.
This is embarrassing for a county where local communities were once national and international models for tobacco control in the past.
What happened to us while many California communities throughout the state passed us by as they updated their smoking restrictions to reflect new scientific data?
The California Air Resources Board labeled secondhand smoke in the same category as the most toxic automotive and industrial air pollutants by categorizing it as a toxic air contaminant for which no safe level of exposure exists. This much-respected scientific report, showed that even in quasi-outdoor settings, secondhand smoke presents serious health risks to all populations.
Prompted in part by this report, California communities recently began to enact laws to protect residents from unwanted smoke exposure in multiunit housing where chain smoking neighbors fill up neighboring units with carcinogenic toxins.
Out of 12 jurisdictions in Marin, Novato was the only community that took measures to restrict smoking in multiunit housing.
But while many California cities moved quickly to match their policies to the science, most of our local communities have not updated their ordinances for 16 years.
Some of these local communities have received D's and F's in the past and have not done anything to improve their public health score - a curious impasse given the scientific advances.
The county Tobacco-Related Disease Control Program stays busy answering calls from citizens, upset about unwanted secondhand smoke exposure, hoping that their town will update their old smoking law.
The second reason that Marin communities received such low grades is because only San Rafael has enacted a tobacco retailer licensing law in the past decade.
Meanwhile, over 60 California communities have enacted tough licensing ordinances to stop stores from habitually selling tobacco to underage youth.
With almost 10 percent of Marin County retailers still selling tobacco to kids, we must remember it only takes one store to addict an entire neighborhood of teens to cigarettes.
Only a licensing law will stop them from selling to underage youth, because they would lose their license if they continue this unethical business practice.
In addition to tobacco retailer licensing regulations, the Smoke-Free Marin Coalition would also like to see all Marin residents and workers receive equal protection from secondhand smoke exposure.
Right now, residents of some Marin communities enjoy much more protection from secondhand smoke because they have updated their smoke-free laws to protect residents, workers and visitors.
Our coalition, which consists of voluntary health agencies such as the American Cancer Society, American Lung Association and other organizations, has been helping Marin city councils enact, implement and enforce their tobacco control laws for nearly two decades.
We will continue to support city councils in updating their public health protections. Let's not wait for the state to pass a law: Marin communities are best served with local ordinances that reflect scientific studies and the health needs of our local residents.
When the American Lung Association puts out their report next January, let's see a row of A's instead of those embarrassing D's and F's.
Maybe it is time for Marin to recapture its lead in tobacco control.
Jennie R. Cook of Larkspur is chairwoman of the Smoke-Free Marin Coalition. Recent studies and the latest report card can be found at www.smokefreemarin.com
What have you done lately?
Thank you for your Jan. 19 editorial on Marin County's grades from the American Lung Association's State of Tobacco Control report.
Marin County and cities were indeed leaders in adopting indoor workplace smoking controls well before the state of California did in 1998. However, only three cities (Novato, Ross and San Anselmo) and the county have updated their policies to somewhat mirror the abundance of scientific evidence of the harmful effects of secondhand smoke developed since that time.
When the U.S. Surgeon General declares that there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke and the California EPA declares secondhand smoke a toxic air contaminant, citizens demand action.
The admittedly harsh grades reflect the 2008 status of protections.
As they become more educated, the public is concerned and looks to their city government to adopt policies reflective of the current body of knowledge.
Additionally, this was a state of tobacco "control" report not a smoking report.
Marin may have a 10 percent adult smoking rate that would be below the state average of 13.6 percent, but in the absence of comprehensive policies, those 10 percent and any visitors are in position to do some significant harm to citizens in most of the cities in Marin County.
Pam Granger, TOBACCO EDUCATION AND ADVOCACY DIRECTOR, AMERICAN LUNG ASSOCIATION OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA ROSA
Novato passes sweeping smoking measure and sets a new standard for Marin County and the whole North Bay..!
- The uninvited presence of Secondhand smoke into any enclosed place of human habitation is a nuisance and a trespass.
- At least 50 percent of the units in existing multi-unit complexes with 10 or more units, and 75 percent of units in new multi-unit complexes, must be designated nonsmoking.
- Smoking shall be prohibited in any place where food and/or drink is offered for sale, including outdoor dining areas of restaurants.
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