No butts about it; King County bans smoking in parks

The ban on smoking continues to tighten, now spreading to parks and playgrounds in King County. The Metropolitan King County Council voted 6-1 Monday to impose a ban on smoking in the busiest areas of county parks.

It’s mainly a health issue and the dangers of secondhand smoke are well known.

“Unfortunately, tobacco remains the leading cause of preventable death and illness in our county and in our nation and it’s well documented that there’s no safe level of exposure to second hand smoke,” said Kerry Nyssen, Regional Director of Advocacy and Air Quality with the American Lung Association in Seattle.

Nyssen told the King County Council some studies have shown that second-hand smoke outdoors is just as harmful as indoor second-hand smoke.

It’s a persuasive argument for Councilmember Larry Phillips who said the smoking ban addresses another issue; litter.

“Cigarette butts are a huge source of litter and this increases the burden on our parks staff to maintain parks,” said Phillips. Clean-up events the last two years collected hundreds of thousands of cigarette butts in King County parks.

There’s another concern. “Cigarette butts can also cause environmental problems as chemicals do leech into the ground,” argued Phillips. A council staff report quotes data that shows it takes 18 years for cigarette butts to decompose.

No smoking signs will soon go up in parks and at trailheads. The partial ban prohibits smoking at places where people congregate, including picnic shelters, athletic fields, off-leash dog parks and parking lots.

It’ll cost about $4,000 to install the signs but the ordinance does not include any enforcement authority.

King County follows the lead of several cities including Seattle, Kirkland, Mercer Island and Auburn that have imposed bans, or partial bans on smoking in parks.