A city in Utah is the latest to introduce a ban on vaping in public parks, on its trails and other recreational facilities, according to local media reports.
Penned by City Attorney Thad Seegmiller, the new policy replaces one the city adopted in 2007 that merely encouraged people not to smoke in city parks or on its trails. Under the new policy, individuals use choose to smoke or vape in these areas can be subject to an infraction-level citation.
“We’re in support of this tobacco-free policy in the public parks,” Youth Coalition member Zachary Moore told the City Council. “It promotes freedom in the sense it limits secondhand smoke, and people are more likely to stop smoking if they aren’t around other people who are smoking.”
Goals of the new policy, as outlined by the Youth Coalition, are as follows:
Protect people who already have health issues, as well as otherwise healthy individuals, from inhaling secondhand smoke.
Prevent young children from seeing smoking in public and thereby believing it is something normal and acceptable.
Encourage current smokers and vape users to quit.
Keep parks clean of smoking remains like cigarette butts.
