San Francisco Improves Its Antismoking Score, Nanny Government Is Working

By Erin Sherbert Thu., Jan. 20 2011 at 1:33 PM

San Francisco Puts Cigarettes Out

This week, we wrote about San Francisco lawmakers and their compulsive need to intrude on residents' rights to be as unhealthy and wasteful as they want. Yet this prolific banning is starting to bear some benefits -- at least on paper.

Just today, the American Lung Association released its latest tobacco report, detailing which cities are improving and which ones are failing miserably at providing smoke-free communities. While many San Mateo County cities continue to show no improvement, San Francisco's score jumped from just average last year to a solid B.

The city has Supervisor Eric Mar to thank for that. While his fame soared with his draconian Happy Meal ban that made San Francisco look stupid instead of just silly, it turns out that not all of his ideas are half-baked.
Mar was the chief sponsor of antismoking legislation that now prohibits smokers from lighting up at ATMs, bars, restaurants, transit stops, parks, and even taxi cabs. The legislation wasn't easy to pass, as Mar faced irked business and bar owners who claimed they would lose revenue if they were forced to ask their patrons to stand on the curb to light up.

Serena Chen, spokeswoman for the American Lung Association, points at Mar's legislation and says it is the sole reason for San Francisco's elevation from average to good.

"It's not easy to regulate people," Chen said. "They worked very hard."

Yet the report shows that San Francisco has room to create more antismoking measures. The city scored a below-average D when it comes to creating house-free smoking citywide.

And that makes sense, considering smokers have nowhere else to go.

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TMFowler

Considering you can't do a lot of that in NY this doesn't seem like news to me.. however room to improve.. public entryways/sidewalks. I'm an ex smoker but even when I was smoking I was considerate of other people. I'd move all the way to the edge of the sidewalk to keep my smoke as away from other people as I could and hold my cigarette up in the air as high as I could to reduce exposure to people walking by with children. But there's nothing worse than walking by a bar or a bus stop and having to walk through an absolute CLOUD of smoke AND weave your way through a crowd of people while trying to hold your breath. It's gross and just because YOU choose to slowly kill yourself doesn't mean everyone else in the city should have to as well.

Modos

Why don't you mention the most smoker friendly city? I do consider moving there! This city lost it's flair long ago. No smoking nowhere, no drinking after two am, no more goog nightclups,...

" The legislation wasn't easy to pass, as Mar faced irked business and bar owners who claimed they would lose revenue if they were forced to ask their patrons to stand on the curb to light up. "

What are you talking about? Smoking in restaurants, bars, pool rooms, etc. was banned 20 years ago. Mar was probably in school at that time.