(A) The City Council finds that:
(1) According to numerous studies, tobacco smoke is a major contributor to indoor air pollution. Breathing secondhand smoke is a cause of disease in healthy non-smokers. These diseases include heart disease, stroke, respiratory disease, and lung cancer. The U.S. Surgeon General determined in 2014 that secondhand smoke is responsible for the early deaths of up to 41,000 Americans annually. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The health consequences of smoking - 50 years of progress. A report of the surgeon general Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2014).
(2) The U.S. Surgeon General has determined that at least 250 chemicals in secondhand smoke are known to be toxic or to cause cancer. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Inventory Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon. Atlanta GA: Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease and Prevention and Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health; 2006).
(3) Secondhand smoke is particularly hazardous to the elderly, individuals with cardiovascular disease, and individuals with impaired respiratory function, including asthmatics and those with obstructed airway disease. Children exposed to secondhand smoke have an increased risk of asthma, respiratory infections, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), developmental abnormalities, and cancer. (California Environmental Protection Agency (2005). Proposed Identification of Environmental tobacco Smoke as a Toxic Air Containment. Sacramento, CA, Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, California Environmental Protection Agency).
(4) Smoke-filled workplaces result in higher worker absenteeism due to respiratory disease, lower productivity, higher cleaning and maintenance costs, increased health insurance rates, and increased liability claims for disease related to exposure to secondhand smoke. ("The high price of cigarette smoking," Business & Health 15(8), Supplement A;6-9, August 1997).
(5) The Environmental Protection Agency has determined that secondhand smoke cannot be reduced to safe levels in businesses by high rates of ventilation. Air cleaners, which are only capable of filtering the particulate matter and odors in smoke, do not eliminate the known toxins in secondhand smoke. (Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)), "indoor air facts no. 5: environmental tobacco smoke," Washington, D.C.: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), June 1989).
(B) Accordingly, the City Council adopts the foregoing as justification for this chapter, the purpose of which is:
(1) To protect the public health and welfare by prohibiting smoking in public places and places of employment;
(2) To guarantee the right of nonsmokers to breathe smoke-free air; and
(3) To recognize that the public's need to breathe smoke-free air shall have priority over the individuals desire to smoke.
(Ord. 2020-07, passed 4-23-2020)