§ 8.30.020. Findings and purpose.

The City Council of the city finds that:

A.

Numerous studies have found that tobacco smoke is a major contributor to indoor air pollution; and

B.

Reliable studies have shown that breathing secondhand smoke is a significant health hazard for certain population groups, including elderly people, individuals with cardiovascular disease, and individuals with impaired respiratory function, including asthmatics and those with obstructive airway disease; and

C.

Health hazards induced by breathing secondhand smoke include lung cancer, respiratory infection, decreased exercise tolerance, decreased respiratory function, bronchoconstriction, and bronchospasm; and

D.

Nonsmokers who suffer allergies, respiratory diseases and other ill effects of breathing secondhand smoke may experience a loss of job productivity or may be forced to take periodic sick leave because of such adverse reactions; and

E.

Numerous studies have shown that a majority of both nonsmokers and smokers desire to have restrictions on smoking in public places and places of employment; and

F.

Smoking is a documented cause of fires, and cigarette and cigar burns and ash stains on merchandise and fixtures cause economic losses to businesses. Accordingly, the City Council finds and declares that the purposes of this Chapter are:

1.

To protect the public health and welfare by prohibiting smoking in public places except in designated smoking areas, and by regulating smoking in places of employment, and

2.

To strike a reasonable balance between the needs of smokers and the need of nonsmokers to breathe smoke-free air, and to recognize that, where these needs conflict, the need to breathe smoke-free air shall have priority.

(Prior code § 4-10.02)