Breathe California of The Bay Area

Breathe California Launches Campaign for New Smoke-Free Outdoor Dining Policies

San Jose, Calif. – Breathe California has proudly announced the launch of a new campaign to make restaurants’ outdoor dining areas completely smoke-free.

“While we’ve gotten rid of smoking inside our restaurants, there are very few smoking regulations governing their outdoor patios,” said Breathe California’s Hewitt Joyner III, who is heading the project. “This is an important public health issue not just for patrons, but especially for employees who might have to spend hours working among a cloud of smoke.”

Through its Community Connections project, Breathe California will be advocating cities throughout Santa Clara County to adopt ordinances that would completely ban smoking in any restaurants’ outdoor dining areas. Forty cities and counties in California (including Los Gatos, locally) have already passed total bans, while many others (like Gilroy, Palo Alto and Sunnyvale) have some partial restrictions for outdoor dining areas. In addition, two recent surveys show wide support for complete bans:

• A 2005 survey by the California Department of Public Health found that 79.8% of Santa Clara County residents support a smoking ban at outdoor dining patios.
• A phone survey of 125 Santa Clara County restaurants found that less than 1/4 of owners or managers would oppose a policy banning smoking at all outdoor dining areas.

“The dangers of secondhand smoke are real and serious, especially for children,” continued Joyner. “Families shouldn’t have to worry about whether their kids will start wheezing or experience an asthma attack anytime they want to eat outside.”

Secondhand smoke kills approximately 50,000 people annually and can cause asthma attacks, respiratory infections, ear infections and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Furthermore, a 2007 study by Stanford researchers found that secondhand smoke can be just as dangerous even when outdoors. They found that people within just a few feet of a person smoking outdoors can be exposed to secondhand smoke levels that are as high as in homes where smoking is permitted. Over several hours, those levels can exceed the EPA’s standards for fine particulate pollution.

In recent months, Joyner has been laying the groundwork for a new campaign by reaching out to key community leaders in a number of Santa Clara County cities. Any local residents who are interested in becoming involved with this new advocacy campaign are encouraged to contact Breathe California in the coming month. The organization is hopeful that a few cities may be ready to address a smoke-free outdoor dining ordinance as soon as this fall.

Breathe California fights lung disease in all its forms and works with its communities to promote lung health. For close to a century, we have provided a wide array of local services to help all Bay Area residents breathe easier. To learn more, please visit www.lungsrus.org or call us at (408) 998-5865.