Summertime, and the livin’s smoke free
Video and Article by Bridget Corrigan
Beginning August 1, smoking won’t only be bad for your health – it could put a much larger dent in your wallet than any pack of cigarettes can.
The Ithaca Commons will be a smoke-free zone within the inner T that is within the entrances at Seneca, Aurora and Cayuga Streets. Anyone caught breaking this new law will be fined $75 on the first offense, $150 on the second and $250 for the third and subsequent offenses.
State tax on cigarettes is already $2.75 a pack in New York, making the cost of a pack of cigarette between $7.50 and $8.50 on average. With this tax as well as the prospective fines, smoking could end up costing much more money than it is worth.
The Ithaca City Council passed the ordinance with a 9-1 vote on April 7, with the “main goal of this legislation being to reduce proximate exposure to secondhand smoke,” says Eric Rosario, City Council member.
The ordinance states: “Tobacco smoke contains at least 172 toxic substances, including three regulated outdoor air pollutants and 33 hazardous air pollutants regulated by the Federal Clean Air Act, 47 chemicals restricted as hazardous waste and 67 known human or animal carcinogens. The aforementioned composition of tobacco smoke is the same whether tobacco smoke is inhaled in the act of smoking or inhaled by nonsmokers out of the air indoors or outdoors.”
Dan Cogan, Ithaca City Council member, says, “Smoking, even outdoors, causes health impacts for people exposed to the secondhand smoke, and because children get exposed to smoking. Restricting smoking lessens these impacts.”
Nikki Valentino, 19, a student at Cornell University, says, “It seems like an area like the Commons should be a smoke-free area. It is very small and condensed with lots of foot traffic – and with the playground and attractions in the center, it’s a prime location for children to play. I don’t think we should subject kids to secondhand smoke.”
With the many concerns surrounding the issue of secondhand smoke, some point to the problems that will arise with the potential cluster of smokers at the three entrances to the inner T of the Commons.
“The whole idea of focusing where the higher concentration of smokers are is just going to congregate all the smoke in one place. All it will do is cause a cloud of smoke around the Commons that you will have to go through just to enter,” says Ellie Foust, 20, a student at Cornell University.
Although it is mainly the “under 30” crowd that criticizes the ban, Councilwoman Ellen McCollister also went on record as objecting to the ban, her main reason being that “it may end up causing clusters of smokers at either end of the Commons, thereby ironically causing some secondhand smoke problems where they don’t currently exist – because smokers are, for the most part, pretty spread out now.”
The ban could also lower business revenue in the establishments located in the inner T, and potentially draw consumers out to similar companies located outside the nonsmoking perimeters.
Luke Smith, 17, of Ithaca, says, “It’s going to hurt businesses. People going to Ameritalia’s are going to want to smoke a cigarette after they eat a piece of pizza. They’re going to say, ‘Why not go to Pizza Aroma and get a slice there?’”
Another potential problem with the ordinance is the commotion it could cause at the bars, when crowds naturally gather around the entrances to smoke cigarettes in between beers.
“I think it’s going to cause quite a stir. Drunk kids are going to want to smoke cigarettes outside, and they’re not going to take kindly to cops telling them to put out their cigarettes. Now it’s just another reason for cops to harass young people,” says Thom Hunt, 22, an Ithaca College senior.
Ariel Jameson, 24, an Ithaca local, says, “I don’t think the bars will be too happy with this when they have to figure some way for folks to smoke.”
The idea of restricting cigarette smoking just during the day was brought up in the City Council, but the ambiguity it could potentially cause was reason for the Council to dismiss the idea. Rosario says, “What we learned from other municipalities is that if you create different time periods for regulating smoking in the same area, folks get confused because of the presence of visual cues like ashtrays and cigarette butts all the time, so [it’s better that] the ordinance is in effect at all times.”
The ordinance also includes restrictions on smoking in playgrounds, parks, schools, festivals, bus stations, outdoor concerts and outdoor dining areas.
Concerns about loss of freedoms are coming out of the mouths of opposers of the ban. “It seems like our rights are being messed with somehow,” remarks Beth DiPasque, 30, an Ithaca local.
However, under legal jurisdiction, the Commons belong to the city of Ithaca, and the city has the right to enforce any law if it minimizes health risks to the members of the community. In the ordinance, it states: “Pursuant to the New York State Constitution, the Common Council of the City of Ithaca may adopt and amend laws pertaining to the protection, conduct, safety, health and well-being of the persons and property in the City.”
In 1990, the first ban of smoking in indoor public places such as bars and restaurants was passed in San Luis Obispo, Calif. Since then, all but 11 states have enacted the same ban. While at one time everyone was able to smoke indoors, prohibitions have slowly been put into place that increasingly eliminate areas for smokers and create smoke-free zones for nonsmokers.
Laura Kathrein, 19, who lives two blocks off the Commons, says, “I think it is crazy how the city government can dictate where it is appropriate to smoke; it just begins to show how much power the government can have over people.”
However, the harm caused from secondhand smoke was enough for the Council to enact its power. Council member Rosario says, “I have no concerns about infringing on people’s freedom. People are free to smoke in places where it is allowed. People should not be free to cause harm to others.”
Councilman Svante Myrick says, “I believe that this will make the city of Ithaca a healthier, more vibrant and more free community.”
Proponents of the ban are hoping cigarette butts and smoky skies will evaporate once the ordinance has been passed. While it is impossible to say how well the ban will work, the Ithaca City Council is working with T-Free: Tobacco Free Tompkins’s statement, “We cannot afford another generation of tobacco addiction.”
Councilman Cogan says, “I am hopeful that the less convenient it is to smoke, the less likely people will be to continue smoking.”
