A covered play area in Lorenzi Park on Washington Avenue between Rancho Drive and Valley View Boulevard Sunday, Aug. 26, 2012.
Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2019 | 2:34 p.m.
Las Vegas Ward 1 Councilman Brian Knudsen struck his own ordinance Wednesday that would have outlawed smoking and vaping in city parks, saying he isn’t sure that the bill has enough votes to move forward.
The bill would have expanded existing restrictions on smoking in parks by making it illegal to smoke virtually anywhere in city parks. It would have also subjected e-cigarettes to the same ban.
Knudsen said he wants to raise more awareness about the dangers of second-hand cigarette smoke and the use of e-cigarettes and vapes, particularly among young people, prior to the council voting on it. He plans to reintroduce the bill at a later date.
“I don’t know if, at this time, the council would’ve had a majority vote to approve it,” Knudsen said. “So, prior to bringing it back, I want to make sure I do a good job of raising awareness in our community.”
The goal of the bill was to improve health and quality of life in parks for residents, especially children, Knudsen said. Existing city law prohibits smoking in parks within 50 feet of bleachers, children’s play areas, sidelines and perimeter fences of sports fields, said Dorian Stonebarger, special assistant in Ward 1. Under Knudsen’s proposed ordinance, the only circumstances under which smoking in parks would have been allowed was during Native American cultural ceremonies.
Supporters of the bill include the Southern Nevada Health District, the Nevada Tobacco Prevention Coalition, the Nevada Minority Health and Equity Coalition, the Nevada Public Health Association and the American Lung Association, according to letters submitted to the council. At a Dec. 2 public hearing on the bill, no members of the public spoke against it.
North Las Vegas approved a similar smoking ban in its public parks in May. Over 1,500 municipalities in the country, including Reno and Carson City, have implemented smoking bans in line with the Centers for Disease Controls recommended tobacco-free park policies, said Dr. Michael Johnson, director of community health for the health district.
The health district supported the bill because it would have reduced the risk of second-hand cigarette smoke exposure, which can cause health problems for children in particular. Second-hand vapor from e-cigarettes can also be harmful, according to comments submitted by the American Lung Association in support of the bill.
“Both the U.S. Surgeon General and the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine have warned about the risks of inhaling secondhand e-cigarette emissions, which are created when an e-cigarette user exhales the chemical cocktail created by e-cigarettes,” said Will Rucker, division director for the association.
Banning smoking in parks could have also reduced litter from cigarette butts, Johnson added.
“Discarded cigarette butts can be a major cause of fires, especially in arid environments,” he said. “Cigarette butts discarded in a park have the possibility of polluting the environment, either by being littered into a local water source, or indirectly by washing into drains that flow into rivers, lakes or oceans.”
Knudsen plans to work with the health district on a campaign about second-hand smoke and vaping. In particular, the dangers of vaping seem to be poorly understood by the community at large, he said.
“The other councilors probably aren’t aware of how significant youth vaping has become and the impacts it has on health, so I wanted to do a better job on making the council members aware as well as the community in general,” Knudsen said.
