City Council to consider ban on smoking in parks
08/20/01
Lighting up a cigarette on an outing at a public park could become a thing of the past in the City of San Fernando if an ordinance being considered by the City Council today is passed.
Several other cities in the Los Angeles area are considering similar laws to keep smokers out of public places, including Long Beach and Beverly Hills. Laws banning smoking in parks already exist in San Francisco and some cities in other states such as Arizona and New York.
The state of California, which has some of the most stringent tobacco-related laws in the country, recently enacted a law regulating smoking in playgrounds.
Gov. Gray Davis on Aug. 6 signed into law Assembly Bill 188, which bars the smoking or disposing of any cigarette, cigar or other tobacco-related product from playgrounds statewide.
The bill, authored by Assemblyman Juan Vargas, D-National City, cites statistics of approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths annually caused by second-hand smoke nationwide.
Violation of the state law is an infraction, with a $100 fine.
Parks in the city of San Fernando include Las Palmas Park, Recreation Park, Pioneer Park and Layne Park.
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