a. Numerous studies have found that tobacco smoke is a major contribution to indoor air pollution; and
b. Reliable studies have shown that breathing sidestream or secondhand smoke is a significant health hazard for certain population groups, including elderly people, individuals with cardiovascular disease, and individuals with impaired respiratory function, including asthmatics and those with obstructive airway disease; and
c. Health hazards induced by breathing sidestream or secondhand smoke include lung cancer, respiratory infection, decreased exercise tolerance, decreased respiratory function, bronchoconstriction, and bronchospasm; and
d. Nonsmokers with allergies, respiratory diseases and those who suffer other ill effects of breathing sidestream or secondhand smoke may experience a loss of job productivity or may be forced to take periodic sick leave because of adverse reactions to smoke; and
e. The smoking of tobacco, or any other weed or plant, is a danger to health. Accordingly, it is determined that the health, safety and general welfare of the residents of, persons employed in, and persons who frequent this Town would be benefited by the regulation of smoking in enclosed places, including places o£ employment.
f. The United States Environmental Protection Agency has determined that second-hand smoke is a Class A carcinogen for which there is no safe exposure level.
g. The United States Surgeon General has declared that nicotine is as addictive as cocaine or heroin; no other addictive product or drug is sold through vending machines.
h. Electronic smoking devices, commonly known as “electronic cigarettes,” “e- cigarettes,” etc., are battery operated devices which deliver nicotine, flavor and/or other substances through a vapor inhaled by the user. The secondhand aerosol emitted from such devices has been found to be a potential health hazard, containing at least ten chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm. The State of California’s Tobacco Education and Research Oversight Committee (TEROC) “opposes the use of e-cigarettes in all areas where other tobacco products are banned.”
i. Secondhand marijuana smoke has been identified as a potential health hazard, as evidenced by the California EPA including marijuana smoke on the Proposition 65 list of chemicals known to cause cancer.
j. Numerous studies have found that nonsmokers living in multiple family buildings can be exposed to secondhand smoke from neighbors who smoke. The Surgeon General has concluded that eliminating smoking in indoor spaces is the only way to fully protect nonsmokers from secondhand smoke exposure and that separating smokers from nonsmokers, cleaning the air, and ventilating buildings cannot completely prevent secondhand smoke exposure. The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) recommends that multi-unit housing be free from environmental tobacco smoke, marijuana smoke, and electronic smoking devices’ aerosol.
(Ord. #30-85, §7-701; Ord. #94-01, §1; Ord. #2015-04, §1)