Schwarzenegger Lacks Leadership on Smoking Ban
We can all feel good about the second-hand smoking ban in San Francisco. The ban will help everyone enjoy smokefree movie lines and restaurant patios, among other things. LGBT people benefit and LGBT smokers might even be motivated to give up the habit. We cannot become complacent in our victory, however. Statewide, our grand old governor, the Arnold, has vetoed a bill that would ban smoking in our state parks and beaches. Our collective wilds are still at the mercy of smokers. Shame, shame, governor!
Has this ever happened to you? It is a sunny day. You are at the beach. The breeze is coursing through your hair as you walk hand in hand with your loved one. You admire the ocean waves and contemplate your small but glorious place in the world. You imagine yourself as one grain of sand in the universe and look down to admire the tan waves of surf. Then you see it. A collection of cigarette butts with a beer bottle on the ground. These little nasties are ground into the sand, with their white filters poking out of the top. Your mood is immediately shot.
How can we enjoy our parks and oceans when people litter these areas with cigarrette butts? This garbage tarnishes the serenity of the scenes. They are pollution too and harm the fragile ecosystems that our fabulous state supports. Equally vexatious is the second-hand smoking that people are exposed to when they congregate together on camp grounds and other shared spots on the wilds. Smoking is a menace to our state parks and beaches.
Our cigar smoking governor failed us all. He also went against the recommendations of experts on the issue, the California Ocean Protection Council. Schwarzenegger said that the smoking ban was too intrusive and that state parks and beaches individually could ban smoking. He also said that smoking could be discouraged with added penalties and fines.
These arguments are unavailing. If he thinks that smoking bans are permissible on an individual basis, he has no good reason to promote smoking on a statewide basis. Additionally, penalties and fines can be used with a smoking ban to discourage the noxious practice. Not only does Schwarzenegger's arguments fall flat, they fail against the practice of countless governments. Hundreds of communities nationwide have enacted smoking bans at municipal parks and beaches. Maine is the only state to ban smoking at its state beaches.
I plan to visit Muir Woods with my sweetie this weekend. I want to enjoy the elements without seeing cigarrette butts dotting the grounds. This is less likely with Schwarzenegger's veto. Take one of your cigars and put it up in your wild areas, Arnold!
Stay in Touch
Keep track of the work Butt Out is doing by going to our website (www.butt-out.org/), friending us on Facebook (butt-outsanfrancisco) or by connecting with us on Twitter (twitter.com/buttoutsf).Butt Out is a project of Breathe California, funded by the San Francisco Tobacco Free Project, which works to get tobacco money out of LGBT community organizations in San Francisco. We also educate the public about the hazards of smoking and about smoking cessation.
Has this ever happened to you? It is a sunny day. You are at the beach. The breeze is coursing through your hair as you walk hand in hand with your loved one. You admire the ocean waves and contemplate your small but glorious place in the world. You imagine yourself as one grain of sand in the universe and look down to admire the tan waves of surf. Then you see it. A collection of cigarette butts with a beer bottle on the ground. These little nasties are ground into the sand, with their white filters poking out of the top. Your mood is immediately shot.
How can we enjoy our parks and oceans when people litter these areas with cigarrette butts? This garbage tarnishes the serenity of the scenes. They are pollution too and harm the fragile ecosystems that our fabulous state supports. Equally vexatious is the second-hand smoking that people are exposed to when they congregate together on camp grounds and other shared spots on the wilds. Smoking is a menace to our state parks and beaches.
Our cigar smoking governor failed us all. He also went against the recommendations of experts on the issue, the California Ocean Protection Council. Schwarzenegger said that the smoking ban was too intrusive and that state parks and beaches individually could ban smoking. He also said that smoking could be discouraged with added penalties and fines.
These arguments are unavailing. If he thinks that smoking bans are permissible on an individual basis, he has no good reason to promote smoking on a statewide basis. Additionally, penalties and fines can be used with a smoking ban to discourage the noxious practice. Not only does Schwarzenegger's arguments fall flat, they fail against the practice of countless governments. Hundreds of communities nationwide have enacted smoking bans at municipal parks and beaches. Maine is the only state to ban smoking at its state beaches.
I plan to visit Muir Woods with my sweetie this weekend. I want to enjoy the elements without seeing cigarrette butts dotting the grounds. This is less likely with Schwarzenegger's veto. Take one of your cigars and put it up in your wild areas, Arnold!
Stay in Touch
Keep track of the work Butt Out is doing by going to our website (www.butt-out.org/), friending us on Facebook (butt-outsanfrancisco) or by connecting with us on Twitter (twitter.com/buttoutsf).Butt Out is a project of Breathe California, funded by the San Francisco Tobacco Free Project, which works to get tobacco money out of LGBT community organizations in San Francisco. We also educate the public about the hazards of smoking and about smoking cessation.
The Misinformation is Out There
Sorry, I’ve been missing in action for awhile. I’ll do a new blog post next week. This week I’m posting a letter to the editor that will hopefully be printed in the BAR soon. The letter, written by Butt Out’s Brian Davis, is a response to a recent “Guest Opinion” piece in the BAR which suggests that the new secondhand smoke law is unnecessary:
http://ebar.com/openforum/opforum.php?sec=guest_op&id=268.
This piece, written by a member of the LGBT community, is filled with misinformation and misguided conclusions based on incomplete information, that I feel ultimately serves to encourage smokers to continue smoking rather than inspiring them to quit. Here’s Brian’s letter. See you next week!
“I am writing in response to the guest opinion article: “New smoking ban is not needed.” The article suggests that secondhand smoke is not a serious health concern, when in fact 53,000 people a year in the U.S. die because of it, and the Surgeon General has determined that there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke.
It’s true that smoking rates in general have gone down, but the LGBT community in California is still smoking at very high rates: 30.4% overall -- twice as much as everyone else. It’s ironic that the article suggests we should spend more money educating “marginalized populations at most risk of smoking” without mentioning that the LGBT community is among the most at risk, and without realizing that the new law will help inspire the 70% of LGBT smokers who want to quit to break free from their addiction.
It is not true that there was a parade of children in front of the Supervisors talking about how smoking on bar patios affects their asthma. The youngest to testify were a few high school students, and they didn’t talk about smoking in bars.
Also, it is inaccurate to suggest that taking these practical measures to reduce exposure to secondhand smoke in bar environments will be harmful to business. Many other cities have similar laws and their bars have continued to thrive, often drawing additional customers who enjoy breathing air free of smoke drawn in from open doorways to the street or outdoor patios, and who enjoy being outdoors at a bar without having to inhale toxic fumes.
And yes, the air in outdoor smoking patios is toxic. A recent Stanford study demonstrated that exposure to tobacco smoke outside can be just as hazardous as indoor levels, increasing non-smoker’s risk of heart disease, asthma, and many other diseases caused by smoking.
Finally, the name of the group that advocated for the new law is the San Francisco Tobacco Free Coalition, not the “Anti-Smoking Coalition” as the article claims. We are working for the health of this city by helping protect people of all ages from exposure to secondhand smoke and helping the vast majority of smokers who want to quit get the help they need to break free from tobacco.
Brian Davis
Project Coordinator
BUTT OUT! Ending Tobacco Industry Exploitation of the LGBT Community
On behalf of the San Francisco Tobacco Free Coalition”
Stay in Touch
Keep track of the work Butt Out is doing by going to our website (www.butt-out.org/), friending us on Facebook (butt-outsanfrancisco) or by connecting with us on Twitter (twitter.com/buttoutsf).Butt Out is a project of Breathe California, funded by the San Francisco Tobacco Free Project, which works to get tobacco money out of LGBT community organizations in San Francisco. We also educate the public about the hazards of smoking and about smoking cessation.
http://ebar.com/openforum/opforum.php?sec=guest_op&id=268.
This piece, written by a member of the LGBT community, is filled with misinformation and misguided conclusions based on incomplete information, that I feel ultimately serves to encourage smokers to continue smoking rather than inspiring them to quit. Here’s Brian’s letter. See you next week!
“I am writing in response to the guest opinion article: “New smoking ban is not needed.” The article suggests that secondhand smoke is not a serious health concern, when in fact 53,000 people a year in the U.S. die because of it, and the Surgeon General has determined that there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke.
It’s true that smoking rates in general have gone down, but the LGBT community in California is still smoking at very high rates: 30.4% overall -- twice as much as everyone else. It’s ironic that the article suggests we should spend more money educating “marginalized populations at most risk of smoking” without mentioning that the LGBT community is among the most at risk, and without realizing that the new law will help inspire the 70% of LGBT smokers who want to quit to break free from their addiction.
It is not true that there was a parade of children in front of the Supervisors talking about how smoking on bar patios affects their asthma. The youngest to testify were a few high school students, and they didn’t talk about smoking in bars.
Also, it is inaccurate to suggest that taking these practical measures to reduce exposure to secondhand smoke in bar environments will be harmful to business. Many other cities have similar laws and their bars have continued to thrive, often drawing additional customers who enjoy breathing air free of smoke drawn in from open doorways to the street or outdoor patios, and who enjoy being outdoors at a bar without having to inhale toxic fumes.
And yes, the air in outdoor smoking patios is toxic. A recent Stanford study demonstrated that exposure to tobacco smoke outside can be just as hazardous as indoor levels, increasing non-smoker’s risk of heart disease, asthma, and many other diseases caused by smoking.
Finally, the name of the group that advocated for the new law is the San Francisco Tobacco Free Coalition, not the “Anti-Smoking Coalition” as the article claims. We are working for the health of this city by helping protect people of all ages from exposure to secondhand smoke and helping the vast majority of smokers who want to quit get the help they need to break free from tobacco.
Brian Davis
Project Coordinator
BUTT OUT! Ending Tobacco Industry Exploitation of the LGBT Community
On behalf of the San Francisco Tobacco Free Coalition”
Stay in Touch
Keep track of the work Butt Out is doing by going to our website (www.butt-out.org/), friending us on Facebook (butt-outsanfrancisco) or by connecting with us on Twitter (twitter.com/buttoutsf).Butt Out is a project of Breathe California, funded by the San Francisco Tobacco Free Project, which works to get tobacco money out of LGBT community organizations in San Francisco. We also educate the public about the hazards of smoking and about smoking cessation.
FDA Champions Youth In New Rule
Both of my parents smoke. Their brand of choice is Marlboro. Back in the day in the 1980s my parents took advantage of the "Marlboro Mile" program to accumulate free knick-knacks with the Marlboro logo on it. My parents spent so much money on cigarettes and we were poor. Why not fill the house with free Marlboro mugs and other accoutrements? We had every conceivable item, including Marlboro logoed camping tents that we pitched in the living room. Every day I had an added reminder that cigarettes existed. I was given the message that smoking and heavy smoking won you cool stuff.
I didn't pick up smoking, but my other siblings did. Only one of my siblings has broken free of the habit.
My family's experience is not an isolated one. Big Tobacco has its hooks in our youth, particularly our LGBT youth. Every day nearly 4,000 kids under 18 try their first cigarette and 1,000 kids under 18 become daily smokers. National youth smoking rates range from 28% to 35% for adolescents. The numbers are even bleaker for LGBT youth in California. Fully 43.7% of them smoke! LGBT youth smoke for so many reasons, principally out of a sense of alienation at being gay in an antigay world. The tobacco companies have pounced on LGBT youth insecurity and vulnerability in their marketing efforts at youth generally. It is a moral horror.
Enter the feds in white hats. Recently the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a final rule banning numerous Big Tobacco practices impacting our youth. The rule is a creative and comprehensive effort to protect our youth that will save many LGBT youth as well from picking up the deadly tobacco habit.
Most of the rule reinstates a 1996 rule that was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2000. The Supreme Court stated that the FDA overstepped its powers because they did not have the authority to regulate tobacco. Congress licked that problem in 2009 with passage of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.
The FDA bans a good number of practices. They ban tobacco sales to minors, sales of cigarettes in less than 20-pack size, sample giveaways, and tobacco sponsorship of sports, music and other events. Those provisions were in the old 1996 rule and were in part adopted by the tobacco companies in the Master Settlement Agreement. The rule bans other things including sales of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco in vending machines and self-service displays, music and sound effects in audio tobacco ads, and sale or distribution of items like hats and t-shirts with tobacco brands or logos. A controversial part of the rule is the mandate that most tobacco advertising and labeling be displayed only in black text on a white background. The tobacco companies have rushed to sue over this provision. Stay tuned.
Let's hope the FDA's action will be but one step in the fight against Big Tobacco's targeting of our youth. Then we can send that Marlboro camping tent and the bag of "goodies" inside of it to the wilderness.
Stay in Touch
Keep track of the work Butt Out is doing by going to our website (www.butt-out.org/), friending us on Facebook (butt-outsanfrancisco) or by connecting with us on Twitter (twitter.com/buttoutsf).
Butt Out is a project of Breathe California, funded by the San Francisco Tobacco Free Project, which works to get tobacco money out of LGBT community organizations in San Francisco. We also educate the public about the hazards of smoking and about smoking cessation.
I didn't pick up smoking, but my other siblings did. Only one of my siblings has broken free of the habit.
My family's experience is not an isolated one. Big Tobacco has its hooks in our youth, particularly our LGBT youth. Every day nearly 4,000 kids under 18 try their first cigarette and 1,000 kids under 18 become daily smokers. National youth smoking rates range from 28% to 35% for adolescents. The numbers are even bleaker for LGBT youth in California. Fully 43.7% of them smoke! LGBT youth smoke for so many reasons, principally out of a sense of alienation at being gay in an antigay world. The tobacco companies have pounced on LGBT youth insecurity and vulnerability in their marketing efforts at youth generally. It is a moral horror.
Enter the feds in white hats. Recently the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a final rule banning numerous Big Tobacco practices impacting our youth. The rule is a creative and comprehensive effort to protect our youth that will save many LGBT youth as well from picking up the deadly tobacco habit.
Most of the rule reinstates a 1996 rule that was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2000. The Supreme Court stated that the FDA overstepped its powers because they did not have the authority to regulate tobacco. Congress licked that problem in 2009 with passage of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.
The FDA bans a good number of practices. They ban tobacco sales to minors, sales of cigarettes in less than 20-pack size, sample giveaways, and tobacco sponsorship of sports, music and other events. Those provisions were in the old 1996 rule and were in part adopted by the tobacco companies in the Master Settlement Agreement. The rule bans other things including sales of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco in vending machines and self-service displays, music and sound effects in audio tobacco ads, and sale or distribution of items like hats and t-shirts with tobacco brands or logos. A controversial part of the rule is the mandate that most tobacco advertising and labeling be displayed only in black text on a white background. The tobacco companies have rushed to sue over this provision. Stay tuned.
Let's hope the FDA's action will be but one step in the fight against Big Tobacco's targeting of our youth. Then we can send that Marlboro camping tent and the bag of "goodies" inside of it to the wilderness.
Stay in Touch
Keep track of the work Butt Out is doing by going to our website (www.butt-out.org/), friending us on Facebook (butt-outsanfrancisco) or by connecting with us on Twitter (twitter.com/buttoutsf).
Butt Out is a project of Breathe California, funded by the San Francisco Tobacco Free Project, which works to get tobacco money out of LGBT community organizations in San Francisco. We also educate the public about the hazards of smoking and about smoking cessation.