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Our Beaches Are Not an Ashtray

The City of Solana Beach is California's First Smoke-Free Beach!

With the passage of Ordinance #316, Solana Beach became the first California city to enforce a smoke-free beach! The idea for the law came from the San Dieguito Alliance for Drug Free Youth, made up mostly of high school students from coastal North County. Its members worked with the City, with support from the Tobacco-Free Communities Coalition of San Diego County, for more than a year to get the ordinance passed. Campaign organizers made presentations to City Council members, collected and counted cigarette butts, and conducted a public opinion survey of beach-goers.

The day the Solana Beach City Council was to decide the matter, the chambers were filled with supporters from a half dozen different community organizations. The vote was unanimous in favor of making Solana Beach public parks and beaches smoke-free. "This is the first, but it will not be the last," American Lung Association spokeswoman Debra Kelly said at a news conference above Fletcher Cove. "We want every beach in the state smoke-free."

As a result of the City's efforts many other cities now have smoke free beaches.

2.7 million kids are established smokers.

16.5 million kids, including one million 11 year olds, are at risk for becoming established smokers.

9,137 18 year olds and under started smoking this year.

350,863 Americans have died prematurely this year from the effects of smoking.

In the US there are at least 4.5 million adolescents who are smokers.
Each day more than 3,000 teens start smoking regularly.

Teen smokers get sick more often than teens who don�t smoke.

Teen smokers have smaller lungs and weaker hearts than teens who don�t smoke.

Smoking-related illnesses claim more American lives than alcohol, car accidents, suicide, AIDS, homicide and illegal drugs combined.

Smoking is the single most preventable cause of premature death in the United States.

It has been illegal for over 100 years to sell tobacco to minors, yet a 2004 survey conducted in San Diego County found that over 33% of retailers sold tobacco to a child. Nationwide, youth smoking has declined since 1997, but remains at high levels. The 2004 National Youth Tobacco Survey (YTS) found that 21.7% of U.S. high school kids smoke and 9.9% of high school males use spit tobacco.

There are a variety of state and local tobacco control laws that regulate youth access to tobacco and protect the public from secondhand smoke. An overview of state laws and local ordinances regulating the sale of tobacco to minors may be found at Tobacco Watchdog. A similar overview of laws designed to protect the public from secondhand smoke may be found at Smoke Free San Diego.

Violations of all local and state tobacco control laws may be reported to the San Diego County Tobacco Control Resource Program (SDTCRP) either by telephone at 1-800-NOSMOKE, or online. A sale of tobacco to a minor may also be reported at the following phone number: 1-800-5 ASK-4-ID

COMMUNITY RESOURCES FOR QUITTING SMOKING

American Cancer Society, 1-800-ACS-2345

American Lung Association, 1-800-LUNG-USA

American Lung Association of San Diego and Imperial Counties, 619-297-3901

National Cancer Institute

California Smokers' And Chewers' Helpline

English
1-800-NO-BUTTS
(1-800-662-8887)

Spanish
1-800-45-NO-FUME
(1-800-456-6386)

Mandarin and Cantonese
1-800-838-8917

Vietnamese
1-800-778-8440

Korean
1-800-556-5564

Deaf/Hearing Impaired
1-800-933-4TDD
(1-800-933-4833)

Chew/Smokeless Tobacco
1-800-844-CHEW
(1-800-844-2439)

Teens
1-800-NO BUTTS
(1-800-662-8887)