ASH supports Calabasas' Comprehensive Smoking Ban [02/16/06-1]

Mayor Groveman, Members of the City Council, and Others

My name is John Banzhaf, and I’ve come here from Washington, DC, sometimes affectionately known as “Disneyland on the Potomac.”

In Washington I am a Professor of Public Interest Law at the George Washington University Law School – and I’m was proud to learn that one of your City Council members, Jonathon Wolfson, is an alum of our top-20 law school.

I’m also the Founder and Executive Director of Action on Smoking and Health – ASH – a national legal-action antismoking and nonsmokers’ rights organization I founded in 1968 after I used legal action to get antismoking messages on the air and to drive cigarette commercials off the air.

ASH, our nation’s oldest and largest antismoking organization, started what we now call the NONsmoker’s rights movement by being the first to get no-smoking sections – and ultimately smoking bans – on planes and buses, and later in office buildings and in many indoor public places – and we’ve been fighting for many years to protect children as well as adults from exposure to tobacco smoke pollution both indoors and outdoors.

So I’m delighted to be here tonight to expand upon our earlier written submission supporting your cutting-edge legislation which will make Calabasas the first truly smokefree city and hopefully provide a model for other jurisdictions which likewise recognize the need to protect their citizens, or which see the inevitability for such restrictions in light of the official determination that tobacco smoke is a “Toxic Air Contaminant.”

As you may recall, ASH cited testimony to you that even the small amounts of tobacco smoke hovering over a sidewalk CAN be enough to trigger an asthmatic attack in those who are particularly susceptible – and almost 100 million Americans have chronic medical conditions which make them particularly susceptible to tobacco smoke.

We noted that actual measurements of deadly respirable particles in tobacco smoke from people smoking near doorways creates air which the EPA classifies as “UNHEALTHY” and that the researcher determined created “ACUTE AND CHRONIC THREATS TO BUILDING OCCUPANTS.”

In any event, no person should be involuntarily and unnecessarily exposed to any level, however low, of known cancer-causing substances which is why the public is shielded from inhaling even minute amounts of asbestos dust as they walk by a building being renovated.

We argued that, even if there were no true health hazard, you would still be more than justified in banning smoking outdoors because it is so annoying and irritating to most people – just as many jurisdictions ban, in public places, loud music, immodest attire, sexually inappropriate behavior, drinking, & gambling.

Indeed, alcoholic beverages are a very good analogy and example, since we prohibit public consumption, not to protect people from secondhand alcohol, or to prevent drunkenness, but rather because we think it is inappropriate to expose young children to that behavior as a norm, even if alcoholic drinks are legal.Yes, cigarettes are a legal product, but then so are alcoholic beverages, aerial fireworks, trail motorcycles, Formula 1 racing cars, dice for gambling, and life-size blow-up dolls meant for sexual purposes but that certainly doesn’t mean that there is a corresponding right to use them on public streets where they affect others or that a city must provide some place for owners to use them.

Equally unavailing is the argument that outdoor smoking bans may be difficult to enforce. Exactly the same argument has always been made for indoor smoking bans, but time after time – from elevators to airplanes to office buildings – they have been proven to be dead wrong as they are now being proven wrong regarding other outdoor smoking bans on beaches, in parks, and around building entrances.

The reason, as you all have recognized, is that most so-called “enforcement” occurs voluntarily – most people are law-abiding citizens who will obey posted outdoor laws -- whether it asks them not to drink, smoke, spit, gamble, play boom boxes, or not to leave their dog’s droppings behind in most other cases, a polite reminder from someone asking the offender to obey a sign is all that is needed.

In summary, there are many reasons – health hazards, unnecessary exposure to cancer-causing chemicals, physical annoyance and irritation, litter, etc. for banning smoking outdoors – and no opposing arguments.

There is no legal OR moral “RIGHT” to smoke, especially in public places, even if the product is legal — and experience clearly indicates that there will be few if any enforcement problems or other repercussions.

Under your leadership, Calabasas can make a breakthrough, and reap the recognition and accolades for being courageous and farsighted enough to become the first smokefree city.

This information is presented as a public service by:

Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)
2013 H Street NW / Washington, DC 20006 / (202) 659-4310
A national nonprofit, scientific and educational organization founded in 1967.
All donations are fully tax deductible.

Material on this page may be freely reproduced, distributed, and circulated
with attribution given to Action on Smoking and Health.

Dedicated to Mr. and Mrs. Warren Wells