NJ Smoking Bans: Caldwell Joins Essex County Neighbors

Caldwell, NJ – Caldwell has become the latest government in Essex County to ban smoking on municipal property.

During their March 1 meeting, the Caldwell Borough Council approved an ordinance that prohibits smoking in public parks, recreation areas and other town-owned property, including in its vehicles.

In addition to cigarettes, the ban includes cigars, pipes and electronic smoking devices.

Violators would be subject to fines ranging from $250 for a first offense to $500 for subsequent offenses.

Several municipal agencies are tasked with the enforcement of the law, including the Police Department, Fire Department, Recreation Department, Department of Public Works and the Health Department.

Signs will be posted in the affected areas, according to the ordinance.

“We’re not banning tobacco in Caldwell, we’re telling people you can’t use tobacco on the town’s property,” Councilman John Cascarano said. “We’re not saying what they can and can’t do, we’re telling them what they can and can’t do on our property.”

SMOKING BANS IN ESSEX COUNTY

Caldwell isn’t the first North Jersey government to ban smoking on public property.

In October, the Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders passed a Smoke-Free Air ordinance banning smoking in any county-owned park.

The ban affects parks in Montclair, Livingston, Roseland, Belleville, Newark, Bloomfield, West Orange, Verona, Cedar Grove, Glen Ridge, Caldwell, Essex Fells, Orange, Maplewood, Millburn, South Orange, East Orange and Nutley.

“The New Jersey Smoke-Free Air Act specifically authorizes local restrictions on smoking equivalent to, or greater than those provided in the New Jersey Smoke-Free Air Act for purposes of protecting public health,” the ordinance states.

• See related article: Essex County Bans Smoking In Public Parks

Several towns in Essex County have enacted or debated their own municipal smoking bans in recent years:

• See related article: Smoking Ban Considered on Town Grounds In Montclair
• See related article: Smoking Ban Ordinance Passes Unanimously In Maplewood
• See related article: Final Vote for Belleville Smoking Ban Pushed Back to June 9
• See related article: Millburn gets no-smoking signs for municipal parks
• See related article: Newark council passes anti-smoking, foreclosure ordinances

CRITICISM OF SMOKING BANS

When Montclair passed its smoking ban in 2014, Councilman-at-Large Rich McMahon told a NorthJersey.com reporter that the ordinance is an example of "overregulation" in America.

"We all have to respect each other, but do we need ordinances or just common sense and decency?" questioned McMahon, a non-smoker who still opposed the ban.

“When smoking is suddenly banned in public places, it doesn't stop a tobacco company from having a cup of coffee, or a meal, or a glass of beer… who it stops is the tired shopper, the guy or girl on a work-break, or the family that wants to take its smoking mother-in-law to dinner,” states NYC Citizens Lobbying Against Smoker Harassment (CLASH), an organization that filed a successful lawsuit in 2013 that helped to overturn a smoking ban in New York's state parks.

“The evidence of harm to non-smokers on the beach or in a park from someone smoking is virtually non-existent,” Ronald Bayer, a professor at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health told PBS.

“The evidence that fish and birds are dying because of cigarette butts is virtually non-existent,” Bayer continued. “And even the evidence that seeing someone in a park or beach will encourage kids to smoke is extremely weak.”

SUPPORT OF THE BANS

In New Jersey, only 15 percent of the adult population smokes, claims Global Advisors on Smokefree Policy (GASP), an anti-smoking advocacy group.

“More than 240 local NJ governments have shown support for smokefree air outdoors,” the organization states.

According to GASP, outdoor smoking bans help:

• Protect people, especially children who congregate at parks, playgrounds and beaches, from secondhand smoke
• Set a standard that promotes public health by creating healthful environments for outdoor exercise and activities and helps to normalize smokefree environments
• Promote community efforts to “go green” and be environmentally friendly
• Eliminate the concern of discarded cigarette butts that are ingested by children and animals
• Improve oceanic and marine life with lower toxicity levels by reduced butt waste in lakes, bays and oceans
• Reduce litter, which lowers municipal county and state clean-up costs for recreational areas
• Reduce accidental fires caused by discarded cigarette butts in forests and parks
• Facilitate the preservation of land and water for conservation and recreational purposes

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