By this summer, the only smoke in parks in Tacoma might be coming from meat cooking on grills.
Metro Parks Commissioner Ryan Mello proposed a smoking ban during the Feb. 13 meeting of Joint Municipal Action Committee. It was a topic of discussion at a recent Metro Parks Commission retreat, he noted.
Second-hand smoke “poses a significant toxic health risk to the citizens of Tacoma,” Mello remarked.
If children in parks see adults around them smoking they will assume it is a socially acceptable habit, according to Mello. Banning smoking in parks “will set the tone of what is acceptable in our community,” he said.
Several years ago Washington voters approved an initiative that banned smoking in bars, restaurants, bowling alleys and similar establishments. County health departments are responsible for enforcing it. Mello does not expect a ban on smoking in parks to be dealt with by police. “Police are not going to have the resources to respond to everyone smoking in a park,” he remarked.
Captain Mark Langford of Tacoma Police Department (TPD) said the statewide indoor smoking ban has not diverted police from responding to more serious problems. “We have not seen a big demand on our resources” from it, he remarked. Langford said this proposed new ban on would give police officers a tool in that they could inform people they encounter smoking in a park of the law and they would have the legal authority to request they extinguish their cigarette. He said TPD is supportive of the proposed ordinance.
Because the proposed ban would require a change to Tacoma Municipal Code, Tacoma City Council would need to pass an ordinance to enact it. The issue will be examined at an upcoming meeting of the council’s Public Safety, Human Services and Education Committee. It could become law by late spring.
There was discussion on the difference between a policy and a law. Several places within the Metro Parks system, including Point Defiance Zoo and some athletic fields, have signs that state “Thank you for not smoking.” These reflect policies, meaning they are more like suggestions or requests, rather than an actual law, which Mello desires.
The law would be written to prohibit all tobacco use, meaning chewing tobacco would also be banned, similar to a law that was enacted in Puyallup.
Tacoma School Board member Debbie Winskill noted society’s view of smoking has changed over the years. When her husband began his career as an attorney people smoked in courtrooms. “Times have changed,” Winskill observed.
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