Oregon state parks may curb smokers by 2014
SALEM, Ore. (AP) - The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department is drawing up rules that could limit smokers to their personal and recreational vehicles.
The department's staff is working on proposals in expectation of getting them adopted by early 2014, the Salem Statesman Journal (http://stjr.nl/XBex2C ) reported Tuesday.
The general recommendation from the staff is to permit smoking only in personal vehicles and RVs, said Chris Havel, a state parks spokesman.
An order from Gov. John Kitzhaber went into effect this month banning smoking and chewing tobacco along the perimeter of most state offices.
The governor's order gives some agencies, such as the parks department, until next year to write rules. The state Parks and Recreation Commission has to approve rule changes suggested by staffers. To follow the spirit of the governor's order, however, new restrictions on tobacco use at parks are almost a given.
"People can expect that something is going to come of this," Havel said.
The rules would apply to a T-shaped area around the Capitol that the department manages, he said.
"We'd handle that area the same way we handle any other state park," Havel said.
They also would apply to the state fairgrounds, year round and not just during the Oregon State Fair, he said.
Park rangers have the authority to cite visitors who violate the rules, but it's more common for them simply to ask for compliance, Havel said.
Local jurisdictions have also been working to curb smoking in parks. Around Salem, Stayton and Independence have approved smoke-free rules in city parks. In Dallas, the town's largest park has a designated smoking area, and other parks officially are smoke free.
In Salem itself, City Council member Diana Dickey proposed two years ago to make it unlawful to "smoke or carry any burning smoking instrument while in any park." Councilors voted down the ordinance.
"Some of the councilors felt it was a freedom issue," Dickey said. Concerns also were raised about the ability to enforce no-smoking rules.
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Information from: Statesman Journal, http://www.statesmanjournal.com
I think this is ridiculous. You are outside. If you can't smoke at a state park camp site, are we still allowed to have a fire that smokes? Or are we going to be banned from this too? How many freedoms do we have to give up before we have none left? Why are smokers being personally targetted? We get taxed when non-smokers don't, and now we are going to be confined to our own vehicles. POINT TO BE MADE...People aren't going to smoke with their windows up. The smoke will still enter the surrounding area. Are we going to be cited for that as well?Â
Smokers are people too. I pay for a house that I smoke anywhere outside of. Now as for a state parks camp site. I feel that if I'm paying for a site away from home that I should be able to smoke inside my campsite, contrary to any rule, its a right. I'm outside and I pay up to $80 per day to be at state park sites. Do Americans not have rights anymore?