California's Cities Lead the Way in Adopting Smoke-Free Policies

摘要

In January, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) declared cigarette smoke a toxic pollutant. With this announcement, California continues to lead the way in honestly assessing the threat of secondhand smoke. It also complements ongoing efforts by California cities to regulate smoking and tobacco use. In the late 1980s, Califomians voted for Proposition 99, which increased the sales tax on tobacco and dedicated the resulting revenue to a variety of purposes, including public health programs and public education (with an advertising component) about the dangers of smoking. In the early and mid-1990s, many cities banned smoking in most workplaces and bars. This action at the local level paved the way for the 1994 enactment of AB 13, authored by then-Assembly Member Terry Friedman. The first legislation of its type in the nation, AB 13 banned smoking in virtually all enclosed places of employment in California. The League and its member cities were among those supporting its passage.