The Board of Supervisors of the County of San Bernardino hereby finds and declares:
(a) 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; and
(b) The use of cigars is known to cause lung, larynx, esophageal, and oral cancer; and
(c) More than 440,000 people die in the United States from tobacco-related disease every year, making it the nation’s leading cause of preventable illness; and
(d) The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that by 2030, tobacco will account for ten million deaths per year, making it the greatest cause of death worldwide; and
(e) The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has found secondhand smoke to be a risk to public health, and has classified secondhand smoke as a group A carcinogen, the most dangerous class of carcinogen; and
(f) Exposure to secondhand smoke is the third leading cause of preventable death in this country, killing over 49,000 non-smokers each year, including an estimated 400 deaths from lung cancer; and
(g) It is estimated that 46,000 nonsmokers die of ischemic heart disease from secondhand smoke each year in the U.S.; and
(h) Secondhand smoke exposure adversely affects fetal growth with elevated risk of low birth weight, and increased risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) in infants of mothers who smoke; and
(i) 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, exacerbates childhood asthma, and increases the risk of acute chronic middle ear infection in children; and
(j) The total cost of smoking in California was estimated to be $500.00 per resident or $3,400.00 per smoker per year, for a total of nearly $18.1 billion in smoking-related costs in 2004 alone; and
(k) Smoking-related health care costs in California in 2004 totaled $9.6 billion, an estimated 43 percent of which is paid for by public sources; and
(l) Almost 90 percent of adult smokers started smoking at or before age 18; and
(m) It is estimated that 13.8 percent of California high school students smoke; and
(n) The National Visible Litter Survey and Litter Cost Study conducted by Keep America Beautiful in 2009 found that tobacco products, primarily cigarette butts, comprised nearly 38% of all collected litter items from roadways and streets; and
(o) State law acknowledges the harms of exposure to secondhand smoke by prohibiting the sale or furnishing of cigarettes, tobacco products and smoking paraphernalia to minors, as well as the purchase, receipt, or possession of tobacco products by minors; and
(p) With certain exceptions, State law prohibits smoking inside an enclosed place of employment; and
(q) State law prohibits public school students from smoking or using tobacco products while on campus, while attending school-sponsored activities, or while under the supervision or control of school district employees; and
(r) State law prohibits smoking in playgrounds and tot lots and within 20 feet of the main entrances and exits of public buildings while expressly authorizing local communities to enact additional restrictions; and
(s) It is the intent of the County Board of Supervisors in enacting the ordinance that adds this Chapter, to provide for the public health, safety, and welfare by discouraging the inherently dangerous behavior of tobacco use around non-tobacco users; by protecting children from exposure to smoking and tobacco while they play; by reducing the potential for children to associate smoking and tobacco with a healthy lifestyle; by protecting the public from smoking and tobacco-related litter and pollution; and by affirming and promoting the family atmosphere of the County’s public places.
(Ord. 4212, passed - -2013)