Clatsop County may ban smoking in county parks

Published 4:39 am Thursday, November 20, 2014

Clatsop County parks may soon be tobacco free.

The Clatsop County Recreational Lands Planning Advisory Committee is recommending that county parks be included in the county’s existing no tobacco policy.

The no tobacco policy, created in 2011, is enforced outside county department buildings.

Parks impacted by the proposed policy include Big Creek, Carnahan, Cullaby Lake, LeeWooden/Fish Hawk Falls, Klootchy Creek, North Fork Nehalem, Sigfridson, John Day and Westport boat ramp.

Before the no tobacco policy is enacted at county parks, the Clatsop County Board of Commissioners would have to vote and approve the recommendation.

Steven Blakesley, Clatsop County health promotion specialist, presented information about the no tobacco policy earlier this fall at the Recreational Lands Planning Advisory Committee meeting.

He offered several reasons for supporting the policy including decreasing exposure to secondhand smoke, encouraging more smokers to quit, increasing successful quit attempts and discouraging children from starting to smoke.

“We are not saying you can’t smoke. We are saying we don’t want you smoking in this place,” Blakesley said. “We feel we are not banning things. We are supporting and promoting health.”

At the time, the committee voted in favor of sending a recommendation to the Board of Commissioners to include parks in the no tobacco policy.

County legal counsel has since suggested the recommendation change the park rules and not an entire county ordinance.

The recommendation will be reworked by the committee and eventually sent to the Board of Commissioners. No date has been set.

The committee will also consider concerns about people’s personal rights, how the policy would be enforced and the need for such a policy since parks are outdoors.

Blakesley said it would be easier for people to follow a countywide policy rather than one that says people can smoke on some county property, but not other locations.

“We are trying to create a norm that parks are and should be tobacco free,” Blakesley said. “It’s about consistency of message.”