Smoking Ban – be careful
September, 2015
Dear City Council,
I am not a resident of Davis, but have visited many times, know people that live there, stop by for breaks on the way to the Bay Area, etc. So not a resident, but a regular visitor.
I have reviewed your recommended action on banning smoking in the Greenbelt, Parks, E St plaza. These are all large and open areas with no confined or restricted space where people might be forced to be in a area they do not want to be. This is the area smokers have been forced to go to since they were banned from being in bars or restaurants where they were previously welcomed. There are ample areas of any community in the State of California where there are smoke free places. There should be accommodation for other citizens who choose to smoke. We already make accommodation for handicapped people to access most areas, we make accommodations for overweight people, we make accommodations for all types of people to be in our communities. We should make accommodations for smokers also. To not do so is starting to slip down a slippery slope.
In the past in this state there have been types or categories of people who were not welcomed or accommodated. Those include but are not limited to Native Americans, Japanese, Chinese, Black people, Gay people, handicapped people, etc. But now all (or most) are accommodated in society. To look at a smoker – or be 10-20′ away from them is not dangerous. Smoke – like any other chemical – dissipates in the open air very rapidly. After a few feet is is so diluted by the air it’s chemicals are a fraction of what they were when they were exhaled. You can smell propane – and dangerous gas which will kill you in minutes – from a long way away. But the exposure level is so small it is not hazardous. Thus merely smelling smoke does not pose a danger to anyone – if it did it would kill the person smoking it in minutes or hours who is directly inhaling the full effect of a cigarette.
Thus – banning that activity in a open and not restricted area would simply be because you did not like them. You could create a excuse or reason to justify that, but there would be no scientific backing for that. I have regularly visited Montgomery, AL – the birthplace of the civil rights movement. If you go to the museums there you will see old posters justifying the reason for segregated eating areas as being that black people spread diseases and sickness – thus segregated areas were a public health issue. That was not sound then, and smoking outside away form other people has no scientific basis now. It would simply be because you do not like those types of people.
I realize that smokers are the current class of people who are being targeted. But that is a slippery slope. Who is next? I urge you to not adopt this ordinance, and in fact look to other current laws to make sure they are in fact reasonable and allow for accommodation of all our community. That is what any government body should do – protect the rights of all, not just the majority.
Respectfully,
Robert J. Deitz, II
Father, Scoutmaster, mentor for children in conservation and outdoor education.
