Monterey Park, CA Bans Smoking in City Parks [04/22-3]

Excerpts from: City bans smoking in parks

Pasadena Star News [04/21/05]


The City Council on Wednesday banned smoking from public parks.

San Gabriel-based Asian Youth Center has campaigned for the ban for months and packed council chambers with kids from Monterey Park schools.

Nisha Varghese, health projects coordinator for the AYC, said the ban is important in a city like Monterey Park, which has a majority of Asian Americans. Studies show one in four Asians and Pacific Islanders are smokers, she said.

The ban, which takes effect next month, expands a state law prohibiting smoking within 25 feet of a playground. Smoking is now banned entirely from all parks except for parking lots and public sidewalks.

A study requested by the Parks and Recreation Commission in February and conducted by the AYC showed 83.8 percent of 636 residents surveyed support a ban on smoking in parks, Varghese said.

The council voted unanimously for the smoking ban.

Councilman Frank Venti said groups using parks for exercise and recreation should have the right to do so without inhaling secondhand smoke.

"You and I, as taxpayers, will pay the hospital bills for those people smoking freely in the park," Venti said.

Mayor Mike Eng said the city should take things a step further and start education programs for youths to teach them the dangers of smoking.

Councilman David Lau also suggested anti-smoking workshops sponsored by the city.

The ban makes Monterey Park the eighth city in Southern California to ban smoking from parks, joining Pasadena, Baldwin Park, El Monte, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica and Redlands and Los Angeles, which bans smoking 25 feet from any play area, including sports fields. Across the state, 10 other cities have banned smoking from parks, according to the AYC.

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