Campbell Earns B For Tobacco Policies

A handful of Bay Area cities have exceptional tobacco control
policies, but many more are in need of improvement, according to a statewide report released last week.

The American Lung Association in California’s State of Tobacco
Control 2015 report overall found that many Bay Area cities were leading the state in its policies but a larger number were stagnating, organization officials said.

An A grade was granted to Berkeley, Dublin, Richmond, San Rafael,
and Union City along with unincorporated Santa Clara County.

San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose all received a grade of B in
addition to Alameda, Albany, Belmont, Campbell, unincorporated Contra Costa County, Daly City, El Cerrito, Foster City, Hayward, Martinez and Walnut Creek.

The annual statewide report, which started in 2009, rated cities
and counties based on three factors.

The first factor looked at what’s being done to reduce smoke in
outdoor areas such as dining places, entryways, recreational sites and
workplaces.

Another dependent component among cities and counties was their
smokefree policies in places including apartments, condominiums, common areas and housing.

Finally, there were points given based on policies in place to
decrease the accessibility and sales of tobacco products.

Bonus points were issued for cities or counties that included
e-cigarettes in its definition of tobacco products, zoning restrictions for
tobacco retailers’ locations from schools and prohibited or limited sales of tobacco at pharmacies.

Failing cities included Antioch, Hercules, San Bruno, East Palo
Alto, Milpitas, Santa Clara, Sonoma and all cities in Solano County.

All of Napa County received a F grade with the exception of its
unincorporated area, which was given a D grade.

The state overall received a B grade in its smokefree air policies
and a D grade in its poor performance of smoking cessation and treatment services.

The state received F grades for its low tobacco taxes, which the
association said hasn’t been raised since 1999, and failure to finance
tobacco prevention and control programs.

Last year the association set goals for all federal, state and
local governments to reduce smoking rates to below 10 percent by 2024 and protect Americans from secondhand smoke by 2019.

The association is also backing the proposed California Tobacco
Tax for Healthcare, Research & Treatment Act, which would add a $2 tax for every pack of tobacco.

The money raised from the tax would fund Medi-Cal tobacco
treatment services; research into strategies for treatment and prevention of tobacco use; and youth and adult programs by the state Department of Health Care Services.

Olivia Gertz, president and CEO of the American Lung Association
in California, said supporters of the act hope it will pass through the state Legislature or a ballot measure by the end of 2016.

In this year’s report El Cerrito Mayor Mark Friedman said the
grades the city received in previous years has aided them in improving its secondhand smoking policies.

--Bay City News

--Image via Shutterstock

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