At the October 24, 2006 Council meeting, Mayor Todd Campbell, and Council members  Vander Borght and Gordon asked that the Council look at the possibility of imposing restrictions on outdoor smoking.  Staff was in the process of preparing such a report when at the November 7, 2006 Council meeting Council member Golonski asked that the Council consider calling an advisory election during the upcoming General Municipal Election on outdoor smoking regulation. 

Normally under the Council�s policy we would bring the question of calling an advisory election back as part of the two step process to determine first if there is sufficient support on the Council for such an election.  But first of all, since it was brought up by three Council members, and since the General Municipal Election is set for Tuesday, April 10, 2007, the time to call such an advisory election is short.  If we were to follow the Council�s normal process the opportunity for the Council to call such an election would in all practicality be delayed for two years until the next election cycle, unless, of course, the Council chose to call a costly special election, which the Council has been hesitant to do except in the most urgent circumstances.  Therefore we have presented the requisite ordinance calling the election as part of this report.

As the Council is aware there are extensive state-wide regulations on the subject of smoking.  Many of us are old enough to remember when smoking was allowed in the workplace, in college classrooms, in restaurants and on airplanes.  This has gradually given way to smoking restrictions in such places as the harmful effects of direct smoking and its adverse second-hand effects has been better understood and accepted.  For example, smoking is restricted at public meetings in public buildings (Health & Safety Code �118885), in health facilities and clinics (Health & Safety Code �118890), at performances in publicly owned buildings (Health & Safety Code �118895), in restaurants in public buildings (Health & Safety Code �118900), on public transportation (Health & Safety Code �118925), in passenger waiting rooms (Health & Safety Code �118935), in passenger ticket lines (Health & Safety Code �118935), in day care and nursery schools (Health & Safety Code �1596.795), in family day care homes (Health & Safety Code �1596.795), in hazardous fire areas (Public Resources Code �4255), in ice storage or processing areas (Health & Safety Code �110995), in juvenile institutions, schools, day centers, ranches and camps (Welfare & Institutions Code �1712.5), in municipal buildings and grounds (Government Code �7596 et seq.), in public park tot lot sandbox areas (Health & Safety Code �104495), generally in places of employment (Labor Code �6404.5), in theaters and shows (Health & Safety Code �118895), in restaurants (Health & Safety Code �118900 and Labor Code �6404.5), and within 20 feet of the main entrances and exits of public buildings (Government Code �7597).  Still, state law still specifically allows local communities to enact additional restrictions (Health & Safety Code ��104495 and 118910).

Scientific studies have concluded that cigarette smoking causes chronic lung disease, coronary heart disease, stroke, cancer of the lungs, larynx, esophagus, mouth, and bladder, and contributes to cancer of the cervix, pancreas, and kidneys (U.S. Dep�t of Health and Human Servs., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Targeting Tobacco Use: The Nation�s Leading Cause of Death 2002, 2 (2002)).  The use of cigars is known to cause lung, larynx, esophageal, and oral cancer (U.S. Dep�t of Health and Human Servs., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Annual Smoking � Attributable Mortality, Years of Potential Life Lost, and Economic Costs � United States 1995-1999 (2002) MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY WEEKLY REPORT).  It is reported that more than 440,000 people die in the United States from tobacco-related diseases every year, making it the nation�s leading cause of preventable illness (U.S. Dep�t of Health and Human Servs., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Highlights Annual Smoking � Attributable Mortality, Years of Potential Life Lost, and Economic costs � United States 1995-1999 (2002 ) MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY WEEKLY REPORT).  The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that by 2030, tobacco will account for 10 million deaths per year, making it the greatest cause of death worldwide (U.S. Dep�t of Health and Human Servs., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Reducing Tobacco Use: A Report of the Surgeon General, 437 (2001).  Statistics show that death from smoking around the world will soon outnumber those from AIDS, tuberculosis, traffic accidents, murder, and suicide combined (Macksood Aftab, et al., International Cigarette Labeling Practices, 8:4 TOBACCO CONTROL 368 (1999).  The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has found secondhand smoke to be a risk to the public health, and has classified secondhand smoke as a group A carcinogen, the most dangerous class of carcinogen (U.S. Dep�t of Health and Human Servs., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Clean Indoor Air Regulations Fact Sheet (2001)).  It is also reported that exposure to secondhand smoke is the third leading cause of preventable death in this country, killing over 52,000 non-smokers each year (S. A. Glantz & W. Parmley, Passive Smoking and Hearth Disease: Epidemiology, Physiology, and Biochemistry, 83(1) Circulation 1 (1991) and California Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Envtl. Health Hazard Management, Health Effects of Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke: Final Report (1997)), including 3,000 deaths from lung cancer (U.S. Dep�t of Health and Human Servs., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Targeting Tobacco Use: The Nation�s Leading Cause of Death 2002, 2 (2002)).  Studies show that between 4,200 and 7,440 nonsmokers die of ischemic heart disease from secondhand smoke each year in California (National Cancer Institute, Health Effects of Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke: The Report of the California Environmental Protection Agency.  Smoking and Tobacco Control Monograph No. 10.  Bethesda, MD.  U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, NIH Pub. No. 99-4645 (1999)).  Studies also show that 87.9% of non-smokers showed detectable levels of cotinine (a metabolite of nicotine) in their blood, the most likely source of which is secondhand smoke exposure (Pirkle, et al., JOURNAL OF AMERICAN MEDICINE, 275: 1233-40 (1996)).  Secondhand smoke exposure adversely affects fetal growth, with elevated risk of low birth weight in infants of mothers who smoke (Cal. Envtl. Prot. Agency, Office of Envtl Health Hazard Assessment, Health Effects of Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke, Final Report ES-5 (1997)).  Secondhand smoke exposure causes as many as 300,000 children in the United States to suffer from lower respiratory tract infections, such as pneumonia and bronchitis (U.S. Dep�t of Health and Human Servs., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Targeting Tobacco Use: The Nation�s Leading Cause of Death 2002, 2 (2002)), exacerbates childhood asthma, and increases the risk of acute, chronic, middle ear infection in children (U.S. Dep�t of Health and Human Servs., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Clean Indoor air Regulations Fact Sheet (2001)).  It was estimated that in 1999 alone the total cost of smoking in California was $475 per resident or $3,331 per smoker per year, for a total of nearly $15.8 billion in smoking-related costs (Max W. Rice DP, Zhang X, Sung H-Y, Miller L., The Cost of Smoking in California, 1999; California Department of Health Services (2002)).  In addition, smoking-related health care costs in California in 1999 totaled $8.6 billion, an estimated 45% of which was paid for by public sources (Max W. Rice DP, Zhang X, Sung H-Y, Miller L., The Cost of Smoking in California, 1999; California Department of Health Services (2002) and Bartlett JS, Miller LS, Rice D, Max WB, Medical car expenditures attributable to cigarette smoking � United States, 1993; MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY WEEKLY REPORT (1994) 469-472).  It has been determined that almost 90% of adult smokers started smoking at or before age 18 (National Household Surveys on Drug Abuse, unpublished data, 1998.  See also, U.S. Dep�t of Health & Human Servs. et al., Preventing Tobacco Use Among Young People: A Report of the Surgeon General, 101 (1994)).

The Council has three main options.  First, the Council could place the proposed advisory vote before the voters to determine their feelings on the matter of additional smoking restrictions in the City.  This could take the form of the question presented in the draft ordinance or some modification of that question.  Second, the Council could direct staff to come back with an ordinance to directly impose additional smoking restrictions.  We have attached copies of the recently adopted City of Santa Monica Ordinance imposing restrictions on outdoor smoking, and the approximately year-old ordinance from the City of Calabasas which is much more restrictive in its regulation.  Finally, the Council could determine to not take any action at this time, perhaps allowing the state to look at the issue again.

It is recommended that the Council review and discuss this matter and either adopt the ordinance calling the advisory election or direct staff as appropriate.

cc:       Mary Alvord, City Manager

            Mike Flad, Assistant City Manager

go to the top