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Action on Smoking and Health
A National Legal-Action Antismoking Organization Entirely Supported by Tax-Deductible Contributions
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Outdoor Smoking Ordinance in Calabasas, CA Adopted Last Week [01/23/06-3]
Excerpts from:
Calabasas Snuffs Out Public Smoking, Los Angeles Times
By
Amanda Covarrubias
[01/23/06]
Nestled amid rolling hills on the western edge of the San Fernando Valley, Calabasas has become an unlikely trailblazer in the debate over secondhand smoke - and even some nonsmokers wonder whether their upscale suburb has gone too far.
The city of 30,000 this week adopted an ordinance - considered by experts to be one of the toughest in the nation - strictly regulating smoking in public places. The rule bans smoking in outdoor spaces when other people are in the area.
Backers argue that the campaign is just another step in improving their town's quality of life. But others say the rules go too far.
"Everything is forbidden here," said Tal Genin, a smoker and mother of two who moved to Calabasas from Israel four months ago. "No skateboarding, no rollerblading; you can't swim in the lake. It's like 'The Truman Show': Everything looks really nice, but you can't live life."
The push has been the brainchild of Mayor Barry Groveman, a former prosecutor of environmental crimes who co-wrote California's landmark Proposition 65, a 1986 law requiring businesses to provide warnings if they expose people to potentially dangerous substances.
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