OLEAN — As we step into late summer heading into fall the City of Olean Department of Public Works have been installing new signs to remind residents and visitors that all city parks are smoke-vape-free of tobacco and cannabis products.
“Olean’s parks are heavily used during the warm weather, between weekly concerts and sporting events, to our very successful youth recreation program, there is always plenty of activity throughout the City’s parks. The smoke and vape free park policies are critical to promoting public health and preserving Olean’s beautiful parks,” states Mayor William J Aiello.
The tobacco-free ban, approved by the Common Council in 2019, was made official in September 2020. After New York State passed a law prohibiting smoking cannabis and tobacco in all NYS Parks and public outdoor spaces in October 2022, the city of Olean quickly added the vaping of cannabis to their smoke/vape-free ban.
Youth and Recreation Coordinator Kris Shewairy states, “Our parks are one of our greatest community assets, the smoke and vape free policies adopted by the City of Olean have contributed to increased use of our parks for a wide variety of activities throughout the year.”
Why smoke and vape-free parks?
According to the New York State Department of Health, cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of death and disease in New York State and nationally, killing 28,000 adult New Yorkers every year.
There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke; even brief exposure can cause serious health problems and be deadly.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), secondhand marijuana smoke contains many of the same toxic and cancer-causing chemicals found in tobacco smoke and contains some of those chemicals in higher amounts.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), secondhand aerosol from nicotine and cannabis vapes expose people to many of the same harmful chemicals found in secondhand smoke, but also includes metal particulates, such as tin, lead, and nickel.
Cigarette butts are toxic plastic waste and virtually all tobacco litter ends up in our streams and lakes. Just one cigarette butt in a liter of water can kill fish and each butt takes 10 years to decompose.
U.S. PIRG Education Fund’s 2023 report found that Americans throw out 4.5 disposable vapes every second. If you lined up all the disposable vapes tossed each year, it would stretch over 7,000 miles.
In addition to health and environmental concerns, cleaning up cigarette butts and plastic e-cigarette cartridges adds extra cost to park maintenance.
“Smoke and vape free policies protect people from exposure to secondhand smoke or aerosol, but also helps keep our parks and playgrounds clean from litter created by these products use,” states Reality Check Coordinator Jon Chaffee. If you have interest in making outdoor spaces smoke/vape free, Tobacco Free Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Allegany can help. For more information email [email protected] or call (716) 548-0555.
All New York state residents who smoke or vape and want to quit can reach out to New York State’s Quitline for free help at (866) 697-8487 or visit www.nysmokefree.com.