Half Moon Bay considers restrictions on smoking

“We’re definitely taking away rights from some and I take that very seriously,” said Councilwoman Debbie Ruddock. “But on the other hand, smoking exposes people to known carcinogens and I think we have to deal with that.”

Earlier this year, Half Moon Bay received an F grade from the American Lung Association because there are currently no tobacco-related ordinances on the books.

The proposed ordinances are meant to expand on current state laws, which ban smoking in California bars, restaurants and nightclubs. Belmont, Burlingame, South San Francisco, Foster City, San Mateo, South San Francisco and unincorporated San Mateo County are a few of the other local areas where similar smoking bans have been enacted.

The council collectively expressed interest in adopting smoking regulations of some kind, with agreement on details not yet reached.

Discussion at the meeting largely revolved around the issue of regulating smoking in multi-family dwellings.

“Secondhand smoke in multi-family housing just by virtue of the design of the building — shared walls and windows in close proximity — is drifting across units,” said Randy Uang, director of tobacco prevention at the nonprofit Breathe California. “I would encourage the council to consider something that applies to all units and all common areas.”

Several speakers called for restrictions on smoking in multi-family buildings, an issue that inspired some discussion on fairness.

“Our only real issue of contention is the multi-family dwelling issue,” Mayor Deborah Penrose said. “If you start restricting people in multi-family units and you do not restrict people who can afford to have their own home, then you’re discriminating.”

Vice Mayor Harvey Rarback, who supports a ban on all outdoor smoking in the city — including private backyards — said he’s against an indoor ban in multi-family residences.

“I believe smoking should be kept indoors,” he said. “The issue of multi-family units is a tough one but, from my perspective, the principle that your home is your castle overrides the possibility that in a multi-family dwelling secondhand smoke can escape indoors.”

Ruddock said she wants the ordinance to protect non-smokers who live in multi-family as well as single-family homes, and joined Mayor Penrose in calling for more input from multi-family residents moving forward.

The council seemed to agree that the proposed ordinances should include a smoking ban in state parks and beaches, required distance between tobacco retail and schools and parks, smoke-free buffer zones around certain locations like government buildings, and a prohibition on the sale of tobacco at pharmacies and cannabis dispensaries.

As for the possibility of a cannabis exception in the smoking ordinance, the council appeared reluctant. Several councilmembers, including Penrose, agreed that cannabis smokers should be subject to the same restrictions as tobacco smokers, in part, because they have access to alternatives, including edibles and vaporizers.

Councilman Adam Eisen, said he’d personally like to eliminate smoking in Half Moon Bay entirely, but conceded people are going to smoke one way or another and enforcement can only go so far.

“We have to have some outlet for people,” he said.

Councilman Rick Kowalczyk appeared to agree.

“If we make the ordinance overly restrictive, the reality of trying to enforce that becomes a giant headache,” he said. “I think there’s a balance to be struck.”

zachary@smdailyjournal.com

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