COM 0942.149 2006-2008 - Laserfiche WebLink

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DATE: April 20, 2008 TO: Council Chairman Pete Hoffmann & Council Members Hawaii County Council FR: Siuleo Enos, REAL member RE: WRITTEN TESTIMONY IN SUPPORT OF BILL 224 (in its current form) Relating To Smoking in Certain Places in the County of Hawaii Motion to Reconsider and Override Veto, Public Hearing Tuesday, April 22, 2008 My name is Siuleo Enos and I am a member of REAL. REAL is a statewide youth led movement against the tobacco industry. I strongly support Bill 224 and commend the County Council for moving this visionary measure forward in its current form. I applaud you for showing true leadership and vision in passing Bill 224. I strongly urge you continue to show your leadership and override Mayor Kim's veto. I want Hawaii County to be a clean and healthy place for my family and I to enjoy. Bill 224 will protect my right to breathe clean air at all County of Hawaii parks, beaches and recreational facilities. I am in support of this Bill passing because when I go to the beach I want to be able to enjoy my time their without having to worry about someone influencing my siblings with their bad choices and making them think smoking is cool. It also makes the beaches look so ugly with all the litter in the sand looking like one big ashtray. This measure will also reduce toxic litter, and send the message that tobacco use is not the norm in our community, so we stop sending keiki mixed messages about tobacco use. Children and families deserve clean, healthy places to enjoy outdoor activities. Visiting our parks, beaches and recreational facilities should be a pleasurable and safe experience for all. Discarded cigarettes and cigar butts at our parks and beaches are unsightly, unclean and particularly hazardous to small children and wildlife. A child putting a toxic cigarette butt into their mouth should not be part of that experience. Cigarettes and their packaging is number one litter item on our island. Cigarette butts are composed of cellulose acetate, a form of plastic, which is estimated to take up to 25 years to decompose on land and in the sand. It takes a cigarette butt 5 years to decompose in the ocean. Cigarette butts can pose a deadly threat to wildlife. Indigestible cigarette filters have been found in the stomachs of sea turtles, fish, birds, whales and other marine creatures who mistake them for food, swallowing harmful plastic and toxic chemicals. Last year, Kahalu'u Beach Park in Kona went smoke-free let's do the same for the rest of the island. Passing Bill 224 will make visiting all County parks and beaches a more pleasurable experience. In conclusion I am in support of Bill 224 because I hate all the littering that comes from smoking. I do not to have my impressionable developing siblings be exposed to the negativity of smoking which could allow them to believe it is cool. The public's health should be protected wherever, possible, including while enjoying Hawaii's parks and beaches.