By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
Nephi would be wise to have city parks designated as off-limits to smokers if they just consider health risks to the youth of the community.
In Utah, 10 out of the 12 health districts are working to make parks in their counties smoke free.
There is some money available, at present, to help cities pay for the needed signs to built and to be posted. However, there is only a set amount which will be shared by those going smoke-free.
“Smoke Free Parks is one way to improve the health of citizens as well as protect the environment,” said Pam Goodrich, Public Health Educator, who addressed the city council about the wisdom of establishing smoke-free outdoor spaces.
She said that the Environmental Protection Agency has classified secondhand smoke as a group A carcinogen, meaning there is no safe level of exposure.
“We want to establish a norm where children see less and less smoking,” she said.
One other benefit, in addition to that of health, said Goodrich, was that a smoke-free park meant there was less maintenance work required to clean up the mess left by discarded butts.
However, the most important reason to go smoke-free is public health, and especially the health of the youth of the community. There are good health reasons for having smoke-free parks.
“Second-had cigarette smoke is toxic,” she said.
Secondhand smoke in outdoor public places can reach levels as high as those found in indoor facilities where smoking is permitted. Even five minutes of exposure to secondhand smoke can cause negative health effects.
Secondhand smoke can also become a nuisance to the majority of those using the park. In Utah, 84.6 percent of adults are non-smokers.
Cigarette butts pose a serious health hazard to children and animals. Cigarette litter can also be ingested by children and animals, which can lead to serious health effects.
The toxic residue in butts not only litters the environment, but seeps into underground water systems and poisons the soil.
An estimated 5.5 trillion commercially produced cigarette butts were flipped by smokers last year into the environment. Over 3 million plastic wrappers from cigarette papers are tossed into the environment each year.
The butts are flipped all over the country, in parks, zoos, hiking trails, campgrounds and on even beaches and at children’s playgrounds.
Against popular belief, cigarette filters are not made of cotton. They are made from cellulose acetate, which is a plastic. Most filters decompose in approximately three years, but It can take up to 22 years for one filter butt to decompose in some situations.
In the Central Utah Public Health District Counties of Juab, Millard, Piute, Sanpete and Sevier, to date only two cities have passed policies for smoke-free parks: Ephraim and Delta. However, said Goodrich, most cities in Sanpete would soon be smoke-free.
“Delta was one of the first in the Six County area to develop a smoke-free park policy,” she said.
She said that the city council there has no regrets in passing the policy.
“If you are worried about enforcement,” said Goodrich, “the majority of cities with smoke-free park policies have courtesy enforcement, meaning that the individual who is smoking is asked to leave.”
That way, enforcement did not become a burden on the police force by requiring them to ticket smokers. However, there were communities which did have a fine which could be levied.
“Adult actions influence youth,” said Mark Jones, mayor. “Kids mimic or mock what they see and follow the examples around them.”
Goodrich asked council members where they wanted to enforce the policy. For example, they wanted parks and playgrounds to be smoke-free but what about cemeteries, the fairgrounds, recreation areas and sports centers such as ballparks?
Wayne Jarrett, council member, asked if Goodrich would recommend a smoking area in a corner of public parks, for example.
“I would not. I recommend that you go smoke-free,” she said.
“As for money for signs, when it is gone, it is gone,” Goodrich said. “The sooner you put a policy into place, the more you will get.”
Kent Park, council member, asked how much the signs would cost.
“We gave you some small signs, and those are $30 each. The large signs are more money and we have been giving about $250 to help out,” said Goodrich.
The trend is to have smoke-free outdoor facilities. Twenty-seven of the 50 states have communities with outdoor tobacco smoke-free ordinances at parks, zoos, youth sports, trails, and also beaches.
Teen Advocates Against Tobacco encourage banning smoking at any outdoor place open to the general public, including golf courses and cemeteries.
West Valley City Council banned smoking from all city-owned recreational areas and parks, including trails, bleachers, ball diamonds and soccer fields, but not from parking lots.
Tooele County Health District (TCHD) is one of the ten health districts in Utah who are working to make parks in the county smoke-free.
Second-hand smoke also leads to many other serious illnesses including asthma, respiratory infections, and cardiovascular disease.
It comes off the end of a lit tobacco product including cigarettes, pipes, and cigars. It is also exhaled from the lungs of smokers and hangs around in the air for hours and hours.
It is inhaled involuntarily, against their will, by those who don’t smoke.
Goodrich said she would imagine that a smoke-free policy would not have an adverse affect on the annual car show at the city park. “I would think that the majority of people at the car show would not want people smoking around their cars,” she said.
