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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 1210.034 2004-2006 TO: HAWAII COUNTY COUNCIL Coalition for a Tobacco Free RE: TESTIMONY IN SUPPORT OF BILL 365 Hawaii Relating To Smoking In Certain Places In The County Of Hawaii Council hearing Dec. 20, 2006 1500 S Beretania Street..Sune 309 Honolulu. HI 96826 Ter. (808) 946-6851 December 18, 2006 Far: (808) 946-6197 www. tobaccofreehawau. org Governing Board My name is George Massengale, and I am the Policy Director for the Coalition Antonio Sagi8°' JD .Chair Hawaii Medical Service for a Tobacco Free Hawaii, whose founding members include; The American Association Cancers Society, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, the Hw-ryeon Lee, Ph.D.Chair-Elect Hawaii State Department of Health, Hawaii Medical Association and the State universoy ofnawai't Department of Education. In addition the Coalition has over 2,000 advocates senator Rosalyn Raker statewide. The Coalition strongly supports Bill 365, which amends Chapter 14, Hawai'i State Senator Article 4 of the Hawaii County Code and would prohibit smoking within Pedro Haro-Arvizu Kahalu'u Beach Park. University of Hawai't Marilyn Gagen, CPA LLC As the spokesperson for the Coalition I would like to thank the Council for addressing this important issue. This past year, the Coalition was actively American College e of a C Obstetricians involved in helping to pass Act 295, HawaiTs new comprehensive no smoking & Gynecologists Hmvait Section law. Although smoking is now prohibited in all enclosed and partially enclosed John Hunt AHA public places and places of employment in Hawai'i, smoking is still permitted in Tobacco-r'ree Kin ui Coalition nearly all beach parks within the State, thus our families and children continue Ana Jtmene: AlcMdlan, MPH to be exposed to the dangers of secondhand smoke. Kalihi Palama Health Center Halt Robinett. MPH In addition to the hazards of second hand smoke, discarding cigarette butts Cancer Information Services onto the beach is not only unsightly and unclean, it is bad for our marine Pacific Region environment, and is extremely toxic to small children who accidentally ingest Leimomi.Shearer them. Hui Alalama 01a :ha 'Oiwi Heidi Smith I strongly encourage the Council to pass Bill 365. 1 don't believe it is too much American Cancer Society to ask that at least one beach on the Big Island be smoke-free. Protecting our Stacy Evensen families and children is the right thing to do. Hawaii Medical Service Association Thank you for letting me, speak here today. Staff Deborah Zysman, MPH Sincerely /Director Marla R Reyes Assistant Director George S. Afassengule, JD George S. Massengale, JD Policy&Advocacy Director Policy Director Comm. No. ~Z~Q- _ Ref. To! Diane Lobre Project Specialist >`C'T. =%+7r~ DEL' QOtI Natalie Silva Administrative, iS.sislant CarefulParents.com - Cigarette Butts contain enough nicotine to kill your child Page 1 of 2 Fareful aren s Cigarette Butts contain enough CarefulParents nicotine to kill your child is all about Here's an unknown fact about cigarettes. M keeping kids The reason why tobacco plants produce safe in today's nicotine is because nicotine is an world! insecticide. And it is a potent one 50 milligrams of nicotine is enough to kill an adult human being. 10 Basic Hazards You When a person smokes a cigarette, all of should Know the smoke passes through the cigarette's About filter and the smoker receives two or three milligrams of nicotine from the smoke that he or she inhales. a Dogs This small dose is not toxic and has several effects on the • Pot on the stove smoker it increases the smoker's heart rate for example, . Plastic bags and causes blood vessels to constrict. . Electrical outlets Stairs When the smoker finishes the cigarette and flicks the butt Windows away, the butt actually contains a significant amount of . Choking nicotine trapped in the fibers of the filter - perhaps 20 . Cords on milligrams. That is enough, it turns out, to kill your child. If 20 blinds/drapes milligrams of nicotine is ingested by a small child, the . Balloons nicotine will cause respiratory failure and paralysis. . Trapped We all know how excited infants and toddlers are about putting everything they find in their mouths. If you put your Newest Entries infant or toddler on the sidewalk, and if the child happens upon a fresh cigarette butt, and if the child does the . Hot Cars completely normal thing of putting the butt in his or her e Tylenol - update mouth and swallowing it, then you have an emergency. It is . Blind cords - update definitely time to call the poison control center and/or head e Walkers for the emergency room, because that cigarette butt may e Aspirin very well be lethal. . Wild mushrooms . Bathtubs http://www.marshallbrain.com/cp/cigarette-butts.htm 12/18/2006 No-smoking forces taking new territory: the beach I csmonitor.com Page 2 of 3 from the March 22, 2004 edition - http:/twww.csmonitor.com/2004/0322/p01so4-usju.htmi ~ T o-sgnoking forces taking net territory-: the eac zl% By Daniel B. Wood I Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor LOS ANGELES - Ten years after California set a national precedent by banning smoking in restaurants and bars - and months after prohibiting it within feet of government buildings and playgrounds - many of the state's coastal cities are now banning smoking at the beach. Health and environmental officials say the moves are a logical extension of smoking bans in other public places and are necessary to meet state and federal antipollution requirements. Some legislators, however, fear the government is prying too far into private lives, with unnecessary and overly puritanical dictums. Solana Beach was the first California city to ban smoking at the beach when it enacted its prohibition last September. San Clemente imposed a similar ban last week. Santa Monica is likely to follow suit Tuesday, and Encinitas may vote on the issue within a month. With the momentum of early victories, antismoking activists are taking their arguments to other coastal cities, from San Diego to Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, and beyond. Los Angeles is also drafting a no-smoking ordinance for Venice, Dockweiler, Will Rogers, and Cabrillo beaches. "This is really a very basic issue, which is that the community is standing up to protect its youth and citizens from tobacco smoke and litter," says Judy Strang, executive director of Youth Tobacco Prevention Corps, a group of teen activists that set the legislation in motion two years ago at Solana Beach. The group, which seeks smoke-free beaches, parks, and recreational areas, approached three city councils in 2002 for provisional one-week bans. After a routine beach cleanup produced 6,300 butts in one hour at the 1.5-mile-long Solana Beach, the group took a tub of cigarette refuse to city hall. They filmed interviews of residents, 91 percent of whom approved the ban. Partnering with the American Heart Association and the Surfrider's Foundation, they barraged city hall with testimonies and requests for action. Months later, a more formal Solana Beach cleanup event still gamered 230 pounds of refuse, 60 percent of which consisted of wet cigarette butts. It was a wake-up call for the tiny beachfront town from both quality-0f--life and legal standpoints. "We are required by federal and state laws to keep water and beaches clean, so this really got the attention of everyone in government," says Matt Rodriguez, assistant city manager at Solana Beach. Cigarette butts do not biodegrade, and they contain 200 known poisons, 63 of which are shown to cause cancer. The city council passed the ban unanimously and has reported no formal resistance or complaints since. In Sam Clemente, the issue was more contentious. "I don't smoke and I don't like the smell, but I have never in 20 years of living on the beach heard anyone complain about second-hand smoke or cigarette butts," says Wayne Eggleston, one of two city council members who voted against the measure. He says more cigarette butts wash up from storm drains or are flicked by passing drivers than are left by smokers in the sand. And, he says, if officials wanted to get serious about litter, they would prohibit soda cans and candy wrappers, which he says present far more of a problem. "I was really quite astounded by this vote," says Mr. Eggleston. "I just think there is a limit to what government should dictate to its citizens." http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0322/P01 s04-usju.htm 12/1 R/2006 No-imoking forces taking new territory: the beach I esmonitor.com Page 3 of 3 But activists and health officials point to statistics. Only 17 percent of Californians are estimated to smoke, and, according to Environmental Protection Agency data, 50,000 lives are claimed each year from second-hand smoke. 'This is long overdue,' says Glenn Madalon, executive director of the Orange County chapter of the American Lung Association. "In any public gathering place where you have families, children, and elderly, you should not have to sit next to someone smoking and have to inhale it." Many residents agree. The beach smoking ban is "great," says Dorothy Snook, a retired teacher's aide, who spent a recent afternoon at Solana Beach with her husband Darrell and a wet chocolate Labrador retriever named Sammy. "It's hard to enforce, but it's another deterrent. It gets the message across that it's not good to smoke, especially for the young people." How the bans should be advertised and enforced are questions communities say they are currently debating. Critics question additional costs for security and signs and don't think lifeguards and other parks and recreational personnel should have to enforce the ordinances. "Lifeguards should not be diverting their eyes even for a nanosecond from safety and life issues to tell someone not to smoke," says Joe Anderson, another city council member who voted'no' on the new San Clemente law. Solana Beach has not yet appropriated additional funds for enforcement. Under the Santa Monica proposal, citations that carry a $250 fine will help pay for added enforcement and signs. • Randy Dotinga contributed to this report from Solana Beach. Full HTML version of this story which may include photos, graphics, and related links Home I About Us Heip I Feedback I Subscnbe I Archive Print Edition I Site Map Special Projects Corrections Contact Us Privacy Policy Rights & Permissions Terms of Service Advertise With Us Today's Article on Christian Science www.csmonitor.com I Copyright ® 2006 The Christian Science Monitor. All rights reserved. http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0322/pOIs04-usju.htm t v1 xnnnF