Armed with health statistics about the dangers of second-hand smoke and the anti-tobacco rules of baseball’s major leagues and little leagues, Stacey Basinger has been making the rounds of local city councils asking for laws to keep smoke away from ball fields where children are playing.
Baseball fields in Albion became tobacco-free.
Basinger said she would like to see city ordinances outlawing smokers from coming within 25 to 50 feet of the stadium.
While the little leagues can set rules for players, these rules do not have the force of law that an ordinance would in regulating the behavior of spectators in the stands. Even though smoking is discouraged, she said, the could always be people who would be inconsiderate enough to light up in the bleachers.
At the very least Basinger said the cities should look into a boundary of 25 feet around the baseball fields. While that is a possible solution, Price City Councilwoman Kathy Hanna-Smith said that Price City could look into the possibility of pushing the boundaries further out to 50 feet. How the cities choose, or not choose, to implement an ordinance, Basinger’s request is simple: the further away the better.
Many Price City council members said the ordinance should be a self-enforcing rule. Councilman Richard Tatton said that the ordinance would be complaint-driven, requiring people to work out possible problems that arise. Signs in the area near the baseball fields would promote no smoking and a certain boundary line that must be adhered to help push the ordinance to the public.
While keeping tobacco products away from children at sport fields is a chief concern for Basinger and others, there is some worry that creating more ordinances away from the playing fields could further ostracize tobacco users, Councilwoman Jeanne McEvoy said.
“Some smokers say they feel ostracized because they smoke,” McEvoy said. While she supports continuing a combination of both education and promotion of healthy living, McEvoy said this all boils down to one thing: choice.
“Choosing to smoke is a choice,” she said.
The Price City council passed a motion that will have the city research over a 30-day period how an ordinance could be enacted. All council members were in favor of the motion, but Councilwoman McEvoy abstained from the vote.
