Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance - 2001-O0042 - Invalid Ordinance. Not Signed By Mayor - 07/12/2001ORD. NO. 2001-00042 NOT SIGNED BY MAYOR INVALID ORDINANCE REPLACED BY ORDINANCE NO. 2001-00060 PASSED JULY 12, 2001 First Reading June 14, 2001 Item No. 1 Second Reading June 26, 2001 Item No. 48 ORDINANCE NO. 2001-00042 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 12 OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF LUBBOCK, TEXAS, WITH REGARD TO PUBLIC HEALTH BY AMENDING ARTICLE IX PERTAINING TO SMOKING IN PUBLIC PLACES; REGULA TING SMOKING IN WORK PLACES; REGULATING TOBACCO SALES OR SAMPLES TO MINORS; PROVIDING A PENALTY; PROVIDING A SAVINGS CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING FOR PUBLICATION. WHEREAS, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has classified Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) as a Group A (known human) carcinogen, a category reserved for only the most toxic of compounds regulated by the EPA, such as radon, asbestos, and benzene (US EPA, 1992); and WHEREAS, the EPA has determined that ETS is causally associated with between 150,000 to 300,000 cases of lower respiratory tract infections, such as bronchitis and pneumonia, in children up to 18 months of age; and WHEREAS, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates that more than 90 percent (90%) of the current smokers began smoking as children or adolescents and that each day another 3,000 children begin smoking in the United States; and WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Lubbock recognizes on the basis of the EPA report and many other sources that Environmental Tobacco Smoke has come to be recognized as a health hazard to the general public, particularly in confined spaces; and WHEREAS, it is the desire of the City Council of the City of Lubbock to balance the interest of smokers against the potential health hazard to non-smokers in a manner that will result in the minimum possible burden on those persons regulated while still meeting the duty to protect the public's health; and WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Lubbock finds it is in the best interest of the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of the City of Lubbock to restrict smoking in public places to areas specifically designated for smoking and to regulate tobacco products; NOW THEREFORE: BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LUBBOCK: SECTION 1. THAT Article IX of Chapter 12 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Lubbock, Texas, BE and is hereby amended to read as follows: