Title
Ordinance amending Chapter 95: Smoke-Free Environment ordinance, of the Lake County Code.
Staff Summary
* The Lake County Board adopted an ordinance on May 8, 2007 prohibiting smoking in public places and places of employment in accordance with Public Act 94-917.
* Amendments to the ordinance are needed to clarify provisions in the ordinance and to provide for administrative adjudication as an additional enforcement mechanism.
* These changes are part of an overall package of ordinance amendments and proposed ordinances by the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
Body
ORDINANCE
WHEREAS, the Lake County Board finds that tobacco smoke is dangerous to human beings and a hazard to public health and welfare; and
WHEREAS, the 2006 U.S. Surgeon General's Report, The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke, has concluded that (1) secondhand smoke exposure causes disease and premature death in children and adults who do not smoke; (2) children exposed to secondhand smoke are at an increased risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), acute respiratory problems, ear infections, and asthma attacks, and that smoking by parents causes respiratory symptoms and slows lung growth in their children; (3) exposure of adults to secondhand smoke has immediate adverse effects on the cardiovascular system and causes coronary heart disease and lung cancer; (4) there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke; (5) establishing smoke free workplaces is the only effective way to ensure that secondhand smoke exposure does not occur in the workplace, because ventilation and other air cleaning technologies cannot completely control for exposure of nonsmokers to secondhand smoke; and (6) evidence from peer-reviewed studies shows that smoke free policies and laws do not have an adverse economic impact on the hospitality industry. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure...
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