Smokefree Parks and Recreation Areas: Improving Maryland’s Public Health

1. Smokefree Parks and Recreation Areas:Improving Maryland’s Public Health Center for Tobacco Regulation, Litigation & Advocacy University of Maryland School of Law 500 West Baltimore Street Baltimore, Maryland 21201 (410) 706-1294 phone; (410) 706-2184 fax kdachille@law.umaryland.edu

2. Presentation Outline • Adverse public health and environmental impacts of tobacco use in public parks and recreation areas • Secondhand smoke as a known human carcinogen/toxin • Additional health risks to children • Cigarette litter as a pollutant and threat to wildlife • Tobacco use as a cause of unnecessary fires • Smokefree parks around the U.S. • State of Maryland • Impact on the State • Current smokefree initiatives • Benefits of smokefree parks and recreation areas

3. Secondhand Smoke • Also known as environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) • Contains over 4,000 chemicals, including toxins like formaldehyde, benzene, vinyl chloride, arsenic, ammonia, and hydrogen cyanide • Listed by the U.S. EPA as a Group A human carcinogen • Known cause of respiratory diseases, cardiovascular disease, and premature death in nonsmokers

4. Secondhand Smoke (ETS)is a Public Health Threat • According to the U.S. Surgeon General, “There is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke” for adults or children (June 2006) • Annual cost of medical care, mortality, and morbidity from ETS exposure in the U.S. is around $10 billion • ETS is particularly harmful to infants and young children, causing increased incidence of: • Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) • Chronic ear infections • Bronchitis, pneumonia, and severe asthma attacks

5. Tobacco Use in Outdoor Public Spaces Poses Additional Health Risksfor Children • Ingesting discarded cigarette butts can lead to: • choking • burns • nicotine poisoning • vomiting • irregular heartbeat • seizures • Contributes to children’s perceptions that smoking is acceptable behavior

6. Cigarette Litter Pollutes • Cigarette butts are the most common form of litter • Cigarette filters break down slowly and never fully biodegrade • Nearly 80% of cigarette butts wind up in human water systems • State and local governments spend money to remove cigarette butt litter • Tourists tend to avoid litter-filled areas, resulting in lost revenue

7. Animals mistake cigarette butts for food Ingesting butts, packaging, and cartons causes starvation, strangulation, nicotine poisoning, and death Chemicals released from cigarette butts into water are lethal to critically important plankton-like animals Tobacco Use in Parks Injures Wildlife

8. Tobacco Use in Parks Causes Unnecessary Fires • Yellowstone National Park (1988) • More than 630 square miles burned • Caused by discarded cigarette • National Parks superintendents may designate portions of parklands as “closed to smoking when necessary to protect park resources, reduce the risk of fire, or prevent conflicts among visitor use activities.”

9. Smokefree Areas around the U.S. • Most states and the federal government have passed laws prohibiting smoking indoors • Numerous municipalities and states are prohibiting smoking in outdoor spaces • Outdoor ordinances include bans on smoking at public sports and recreation venues, playgrounds, parks, beaches, and public gardens

10. State of the State:Impact of Tobacco Use on Maryland • $597 million in heath care costs due to ETS exposure; $73.8 million of which went to children’s health care (2005) • Smoking-related litter = 8 % of debris recovered in 2005 International Coastal Cleanup; cigarette butts alone = 7% of total • Cigarette-caused fires in 57 public park/recreation areas = 61.9 acres of burned forest land (2006); accounted for 6 to 8 % of all wildfires (2005-07)

11. Maryland State and Local Initiatives • Most counties ban tobacco use on school grounds • Five counties restrict tobacco use in outdoor parks, recreation areas, ball fields, and public common areas • Clean Indoor Air Act of 2007—smoking in public indoor areas prohibited as of February 1, 2008

12. Making Maryland Public Parks andRecreation Areas Smokefree Would: • Reduce public exposure to ETS and its negative health effects • Prevent children from viewing smoking as normative behavior • Lower the number of cigarette butts discarded • Reduce costs associated with cleanup • Reinforce the Maryland Park Service’s “trash-free parks” program • Reduce the risk of smoking-related fires • Protect wildlife

13. Thank YouAny Questions?