Good: It’s Now Illegal To Smoke In Seattle’s Parks
If you want to stink up the environment you’ll have to do it your own property, or at least not in a public Seattle park.
Seattle’s Parks and Recreation officials voted in May to ban smoking in all of its 465 parks. It had previously required smokers to maintain 25-feet minimum distances from other visitors in any publicly accessible park land, the city said.
On Monday, the city, on its website, encouraged park goers to “smell flowers, not smoke.”
The ban follows similar restrictions in more than 1,000 other U.S. cities and communities across the nation, including New York, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Portland, the city said.
Cities have pursued the ban as the dangers of cigarette smoking became more widely accepted, and because of cigarette butt litter.
“Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death and disease both locally and in the United States, so it makes sense to take actions that promote health and healthy environments in our public spaces,” Jeff Duchin, Interim Health Officer for Public Health in Seattle and King County, said in a statement after the May vote.
Click here for reuse options!
Copyright 2015 Liberaland
11 responses to Good: It’s Now Illegal To Smoke In Seattle’s Parks
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
arc99 July 6th, 2015 at 22:30
Yet one more reason why if I am ever unfortunate enough to be subjected to an ordinance prohibiting me from smoking in my own home, I will respectfully suggest that anyone trying to enforce that ordinance go f*ck themselves.
The Original Just Me July 7th, 2015 at 00:13
I think this only applies to smoking in your home if you are homeless and live in a city park.
whatthe46 July 7th, 2015 at 10:00
smart ass. lol
jasperjava July 7th, 2015 at 13:02
An ordinance like that might be enforced by your spouse.
Just sayin’.
katkelly57 July 6th, 2015 at 23:12
Saw the report on our local news, KOMO…Ms. Jaffe asks the man on the street if he is still going to smoke there at Westlake Park…he says, “I’m gonna smoke over here, I’m gonna smoke over there and I’m gonna smoke right here too.”
The Original Just Me July 7th, 2015 at 00:11
I’m more than a little confused. I think ( I could be wrong AGAIN ) Washington State made it legal to smoke Pot. Now it is illegal to smoke tobacco. What about snuff, is it still okay to spit ?
Mike July 7th, 2015 at 12:00
You can’t smoke weed legally anywhere in public…and you know there are already many laws in place about spitting chewing tobacco.
I’m not seeing the problem, a park is no different than say a public building owned by the taxpayers. If the taxpayers want to regulate an activity on their property I think they should be able to.
No I don’t smoke (I did years ago) and I’m not against people making the choice to smoke…that said, I find the smell of cigarettes extremely offensive and I’m thankful we have created non-smoking zones.
The Original Just Me July 7th, 2015 at 12:18
Sounds like common sense laws. No wonder that City leans to the left. I have never smoked but I spent many years as a wholesale salesman. Most of my customers were old WW II Vets. I think they all smoked. I had many, many occasions to smell cigarette smoke. I can tell you one thing. Cigarettes from yesterday smelled a whole lot different than these offensive floor sweepings they pedal now.
TuMadre, Ph.D July 7th, 2015 at 01:48
No biggie. Cigs are on the decline in favor of e-cigs anyways. May as well help push people along, while cutting unnecessary taxation of the people (no tobacco, no tobacco tax).
illinoisboy1977 July 7th, 2015 at 13:19
Y’know, in a nation where common sense is utilized, they would just ban the manufacture and sale of tobacco products, rather than outlaw the use of a perfectly legal-to-buy product. Of course, expecting common sense out of our elected officials is asking WAY too much.
John Tarter July 7th, 2015 at 16:15
Another freedom removed by the do-gooder liberals. And you folks are afraid of the right?