Pleasanton bans smoking in city parks

The Pleasanton City Council approved an ordinance Monday night to ban all smoking in city parks and on city trails.

The ban, which exempts golf courses, will take effect in the coming months, according to city officials.

The ban was put forward by the Pleasanton Youth Commission, which advises the city council on youth-related issues, according to the commission’s website.

Director of Community Services Andrade-Wax said in a statement:

“There are three primary reasons we believe this ban is important for our community. … Of the 7,000 chemicals in cigarettes, 69 are known carcinogens. … We believe smoking and secondhand smoke is a health hazard and cigarette butts create an environmental problem with littering in our city.”

The Youth Commission began investigating Pleasanton’s smoking restrictions roughly two years ago and compared it against other cities throughout the state, according to city officials.

The commission also took the added the step of creating a public policy sub-committee, which participated in the Alameda County Public Health Department’s “Project Teen Friendly.”

The project involved surveying the community about tobacco products being sold in local stores, observing how tobacco is being used in Pleasanton and surveying general community opinions about smoking and its effects in the community, city officials said.

Currently, there are already 175 municipalities in California that have smoking bans in city parks, city officials said.

Bay City News

Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area. © 2022 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.