Miami Meadows Park is one of the parks in Miami Township that will be smoke free beginning Jan. 1, 2017, after a vote by the Miami Township trustees on Aug. 16, 2016.

Miami Meadows Park is one of the parks in Miami Township that will be smoke free beginning Jan. 1, 2017, after a vote by the Miami Township trustees on Aug. 16, 2016.

By Kelly Cantwell
Editor

Miami Township trustees voted to make all township property, including all parks, tobacco and smoke free beginning Jan. 1, 2017.

Partners for a Drug-Free Milford Miami Township began speaking to the township trustees in the spring, said township Administrator Jeff Wright. The meeting on Aug. 16, when trustees approved the resolution as an emergency, was the third public meeting on the topic.

Eric George, tobacco prevention coordinator for Partners for a Drug-Free Milford Miami Township, spoke to the trustees before the vote about the benefits of making the parks smoke free.

One reason is that there is no safe level of second hand smoke, according to the United States Surgeon General, which George cited. Second hand smoke is especially harmful to children.

In addition, children sometimes model adult behavior.

“We don’t want children to have to go to parks where they’re having a great time and associate that with smoking because people are out smoking,” George said.

He cited the consumer’s guide to the Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking and Health, 50th Anniversary that says that smoke and tobacco free policies protect those who do not smoke, make smoking rare and can reduce smoking rates significantly in a short period of time.

Another reason to ban smoking, George said, is because of litter. Cigarette butts are made of cellulose acetate, a plastic, which can take up to an estimated 25 years to biodegrade, according to Beachapedia.

Smoking bans are not unheard of in places like Major League Baseball stadiums, but someone could smoke at a local Little League Baseball game, George said.

“Our goal is not to punish a smoker but to promote healthy living,” he said.

George also feels this could possibly make an impact on the number of high school students who start using illicit drugs, as smoking could be a gateway drug. This is especially important considering the county Miami Township is in.

“We’ve got a drug problem here in Clermont County,” George said.

The policy is not just prohibiting cigarettes, it’s prohibiting tobacco products, Trustee Mary Makley Wolff pointed out.

“Tobacco free is about much more than cigarettes. It’s bigger than that,” Wolff said.

Wright believes that the township is one of the first in the county to create a ban like this. The program will not start until January so that the township has time to reach out to the community and educate them on the ban, he said.

After the first meeting between the partnership and the trustees in April, George put out a survey online and handed out paper surveys at various events. He received 549 responses.

In the survey, people were asked if they, on a scale of 1-5, 1 being strongly agree, feel that a certain place should not allow tobacco use of any kind. Of those who took the survey, 73.5 percent agree or strongly agree parks should be tobacco free, 86.6 percent feel the same way about playgrounds, 78.2 percent felt that way about outdoor sports facilities, 80.1 agree or strongly agreed about skateboard and bike parks, 76 percent felt the same about hiking or biking trails and about 75.5 percent felt that way about picnic grounds.

The survey also asked where those taking the survey live and how much they or someone from their family visit Milford or Miami Township park locations. About 20.6 percent visit at least once a week, 43.28 percent visit once a month and 35.91 percent visit once a year. Almost half, 45,4 percent, of those who took the survey live in Miami Township. About 13.2 percent live in Milford and 41.36 live somewhere else.

The resolution was passed as an emergency because the township will not be enforcing it right away and to let the community know that township officials are serious about this. In addition, this let the partnership know that they have the trustees’ full support, Wright said.

Township officials will spend the next few months making it very obvious through the township newsletter and through social media that the policy was adopted and will be enforced, including in shelters when residents rent them out.

George hopes to do the same thing in Milford, but he has not started meeting with council yet.