Smoking Outside: GA Henry County Parks

Chairman, I’m Dr. Richards not Mr. Gilbert. If you wanted to pass a smoking ban for the ball fields that would not be unreasonable. But to have a blanket ban for the whole park is just ridiculous and, frankly, unenforceable. In addition, if your law enforcement ever actually tried to enforce that ‘possession’ part of your ordinance I think that the county could have a major legal disaster on its hands. Like so many smoking bans of the past, it just won’t work. Like so many smoking bans of the present, it seems to have had little thought put into it.
Jeremy Richards, Ph.D.

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Chairman Jason Harper jharper@co.henry.ga.us> wrote:
Dear Mr. Gilbert:
I am in receipt of your e-mail concerning the recent smoking ban in Henry County Parks.
While “smoking bans have come and gone for hundreds of years,” the ban in Henry County will remain for the foreseeable future.
You and I share a commonality in that we both apparently hold doctorate level degrees. However, neither of them are medical degrees. I do not agree with you that second hand smoke is not harmful. Ask the person with asthma sitting next to the smoker at the little league game, and they would probably be able to tell you.
It appears that you are a resident of Barnesville. If that is correct, then you will be able to utilize the parks there in Lamar County should you wish to have the ability to smoke.
Thank you for your e-mail.
Jason Harper
Henry County Chairman
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Commissioners of Henry County,
1/4/06
Sorry President Roosevelt
and
Prime Minister Churchill

You guys may have saved the world from Nazi tyranny but you may not be able to smoke anywhere in the ‘WIDE OPEN SPACES’ of the parks and properties of Henry County, Georgia! And to go so far as to outlaw possession of tobacco products? What are you going to do, ask cops to strip search smokers like they would crackheads?

Commissioners, I do hope that you greatly change or outright chunk the outside smoking ban ordinance. I am not a smoker myself and do not really consider myself pro-smoking but this anti-smoking craze has gotten out of control. The issue of inside secondhand smoke is still controversial, but outside it is not even an issue. Outside bans are for ‘social engineers’ in faroff kooky states like California and New York. There is absolutely ZERO evidence that cigarette smoke outside has ever hurt anyone. You will note if you follow this link that even the notable anti-smoking activist Dr. Michael Siegel does not believe that outside bans are necessary. Read.

As a historian, I have considered smoking bans from a historical perspective too. If you read Iain Gately’s Tobacco: A Cultural History of How an Exotic Plant Seduced Civilization you will note that smoking bans have come and gone for hundreds of years. They just don’t last very well and are widely flouted. If you read Cassandra Tate’s Cigarette Wars: Triumph of the Little White Slaver you will discover that during the Progressive era the US had an anti-cigarette movement which included bans on cigarette sales. The movement failed miserably, and smoking rates climbed higher than before. Look, we’ve already been down this road before. I don’t want to see history repeat itself.
Thanks,
Dr. Jeremy Richards, Ph.D.

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Smoking ban has some residents fuming

December 22, 2006
Nicklaus Lovelady

A recent ordinance that bans smoking in Henry County parks has struck a nerve with some local residents.

On Monday, the Board of Commissioners voted to prohibit the use and possession of cigarettes and similar tobacco products in all parks owned by the county.

County Commission Chairman Jason Harper said he equates smoking in public parks to consuming alcohol in public parks, which is also prohibited.

“Alcohol is a legal product and it’s long been banned because it’s not appropriate for family settings,” he said. “Secondhand smoke causes cancer. Just because smoking is legal has nothing to do with it. It’s a product that has an adverse effect on people, and as long as I’m chairman I have no intentions of repealing it.”

Harper said just as smokers contribute money to county coffers, so do non-smokers. He believes the overwhelming majority of residents in the county would approve of the ban.

But not everyone thinks it’s a good idea.

“A public park is just that — public — meaning there are many smokers in the county who paid their taxes and voted for [the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax] so some of these parks could exist,” said Larry Stanley of McDonough.

Stanley, who smokes, said smokers in the county should have had a chance to voice their opinions.

“Where do we draw the line?” he asked. “To deprive me, or say I’m not welcome somewhere because I smoke, is kind of alarming to me.”

Jason Pye, chairman of the Georgia Libertarian Party and a McDonough resident, said the ordinance is “stupid.”

“It’s just another example of how the commissioners have taken steps outside their boundaries,” he said. “Secondhand smoke does exist, but you have to be exposed to it day in and day out for years. This is political pandering at it’s worst.”

Pye, who does not smoke, said if a non-smoker sees someone smoking they should go the other way.

While some people have voiced strong opinions against the ban, others feel the new ordinance is long overdue.

“I am so for it it’s unbelievable,” said Cynthia Mussell.

Mussell, the former director of the North Henry Youth Softball League, said the biggest complaint parents had was smoking at the games.

“Parents and their children have to sit in the stands with these people who smoked. And if you’re sitting next to someone who is smoking it’s impossible to not have the smoke blown in your face,” Mussell said. “I think this is great. Not only will it be healthier for the kids, but it gives them a better example and keeps the parks cleaner.”

District III Commissioner Randy Stamey said he has heard from people for and against the ban, but said the vast majority of responses to the ordinance were positive. He said it was complaints from citizens like Mussell that sparked the ban.

“We don’t sit around dreaming these things up,” he said. “They originate from people in the county who have complained to us.”

District II Commissioner Elizabeth “BJ” Mathis said there are citizen who will be opposed to any measure the board adopts whether it’s a rezoning or road repaving.

“I had two people complain, and I think those are the same two people that complained to all the commissioners,” she said. “I’m sure if the majority of people were dissatisfied we would be flooded with e-mails and calls, and that hasn’t happened.”

The ordinance will be enforced by code enforcement officers, or the county police department.

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Henry says: No smoking in public parks

December 18, 2006
By Nicklaus Lovelady, nlovelady@henryherald.com

Smoking is no longer allowed in parks in Henry County.

The Board of Commissioners on Monday unanimously approved an ordinance that will ban smoking in all public parks effective immediately, a move Chairman Jason Harper said was spurred after several people started smoking during a recent outdoor Christmas event.

“It’s distasteful and bad for your health and I decided it was time do something about it,” Harper said. “If the government can ban smoking in restaurants and public buildings, why shouldn’t smoking be banned in public parks?”

Harper said parks are places where families and children gather, and they should not be forced to be around smoke. If people can’t smoke in a government buildings they should not be able to smoke at a Little League baseball game, he said.

District IV Commissioner Gerry Adams said prohibiting smoking is the right thing to do. He works as a manager for the Clayton County Recreation Department which also has a smoking ban in parks.

“I hate the idea that government has to step in on things like this, but secondhand smoke is dangerous,” he said. “I know that a lot of people are really uncomfortable around smoke.”

Besides the health hazard, Adams said smoking is banned from Clayton County parks because it poses a fire hazard.

Under the ordinance, which amends a list of other activities already prohibited in public parks, possession of any combustible tobacco products is also banned. Signage will be put up to inform park goers of the change.

Russell Benton of Fayetteville and Joe Hopkins of McDonough sat on a bench Monday afternoon following a tennis session at Richard Craig Park in McDonough. The two are frequent visitors of the park.

“Anything that says no smoking is all right with me,” Benton said. “I don’t like the smell and I don’t like the smoke.”

Hopkins does not smoke either, but said he wishes the public could have been involved in the decision-making process.

“This is the first time I’ve heard of it,” he said. “I really think it should be up to the people in the county to say whether we can smoke in the park or not.”

On the next tennis court over, Janice Bocage of McDonough was accompanied by her sons who blew bubbles while she practiced her swing.

“I think it’s a good thing,” she said. “We don’t want smokers around our children.”