Los Gatos Receives 'D' Grade for Smoking Ordinances

Los Gatos has received a D grade for its ordinances on tobacco control, according to the American Lung Association’s State of Tobacco Control Report 2010. 

This is the second year in a row that Los Gatos has scored just two out of 12 possible points on the overall tobacco control grade. In fact, two-thirds of all California cities received an F grade in the 2010 report. 

Los Gatos Town Manager Greg Larson said that while he appreciates the association's lobbying on "this very important issue, last year local anti-smoking groups rated us a 'B,' and nothing has changed since then." 

So, who got an A?

Only the unincorporated areas of Santa Clara County received straight As on the report.

In 2009, such areas received an F in smoke-free outdoor air, a D grade in smoke-free housing and an F for reducing sales of tobacco products. Unincorporated areas include communities such as Burbank, Richmond, Fruitdale, Stanford and Loyola.

“There was no way we could go into every city and sniff the air,” says Serena Chen, American Lung Association's policy advocacy director for California, so the report’s findings are strictly based on city and county municipal codes.

Three ordinances passed in late 2010 helped boost the grade of Santa Clara County’s unincorporated areas. Under the multi-unit residences ordinance, smoking in duplexes, condos, townhouses and apartments is prohibited. Public smoking in areas like the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, county parks and outdoor service lines was also banned. A Tobacco Retailer Permit Ordinance was passed in November 2010 and requires tobacco stores to renew a license annually.

The American Lung Association developed a grading system as a way to let people know the state of tobacco control where they live, explains Chen, who also notes that the grades make it easier for cities to analyze where they might be lacking. 

In fact, between 2009 and 2010, 38 California cities enacted tighter smoking policies as a result of the report.

Ten percent of adults in Santa Clara County and nine percent of high school and middle school students are smokers. In addition, about 25 percent of smokers in middle school and 66 percent of high school smokers say that cigarettes are easy to get, reports a Santa Clara County 2010 Tobacco Use Fact Sheet.

Tobacco is still the No. 1 source of preventable disease and death in California, the ALA is quick to point out in defense of its rigorous grading system. Tobacco is known to cause cancer, heart disease, respiratory diseases and infant death. Approximately one in five deaths in the U.S. are attributed to smoking each year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in 2008. An estimated 49,000 of these deaths are caused by secondhand smoke.

Chen emphasizes that the bad grades on the report aren’t meant to punish cities but to give concrete examples of how they can improve. “If you believe that passing these laws is a valid way to protect people, you should look at the possibilities," Chen says.

Overall tobacco control grades issued by the ALA were calculated as an average of three different areas: smoke-free outdoor air, smoke-free housing and the reduction of tobacco product sales. Each of these sections was graded on a point system, which was then translated to a letter grade of A through F, with the possibility of bonus points.

Smoke-Free Outdoor Air  

Los Gatos received a C grade for its outdoor smoking policies with a total of eight points. The town prohibits smoking within seating used during public events and within all outdoor dining areas.

By restricting smoking in the following places, Los Gatos can improve its grade:

• Entryways, i.e. entrances, exits or other openings into enclosed areas.

• Service areas where people stand or wait in line, such as public transit stops or ATM lines.

• Parks, beaches, hiking trails or other recreation areas.

Cities were awarded bonus points for having gone above and beyond ALA’s standards by enforcing smoking restrictions within:

• Pedestrian walkways in commercial areas.

• Outdoor places of employment (added to the 2010 report).

Smokefree Housing  

Los Gatos scored an F grade with zero points for its smoke-free housing policies. To meet ALA’s recommendations, Los Gatos needs municipal codes that:

• Restrict smoke in outdoor common areas in multi-unit housing, including areas where smoking is allowed.

• Designate non-smoking units within multi-unit housing units.

• Require landlords of apartments or sellers of condominiums to disclose information about smoking restrictions on the property to potential tenants or buyers.

Bonus points were given to cities that:

• Declared involuntary exposure to secondhand smoke a nuisance.

• Required a certain percentage of multi-unit housing under the city or county Housing Authority to be nonsmoking.

Reducing Sales of Tobacco Products  

Los Gatos can also improve on making it harder to sell tobacco products by:

• Requiring businesses that sell tobacco to apply for a tobacco retail license that must be renewed annually.

But Los Gatos can reduce tobacco product sales even further—and gain bonus points on the Tobacco Control Report card—by doing the following:

• Restricting the sale of tobacco products in pharmacies.

• Banning the distribution of tobacco product samples.

• Prohibiting the sale of tobacco within a specified distance of a school or park (added to the 2010 report).