On Thursday, Antonio Villaraigosa, Mayor of Los Angeles, announced that the city will implement an even harder ban on smoking.
The mayor said that this stringent ban on smoking will be effective from the coming Tuesday all over the city and specifically in areas such as outdoor dining areas, mobile food trucks and restaurant patios.
Villaraigosa said that people, including business owners and diners, who will not comply with the new rules shall be fined up to $500. The mayor further explained that the new stringent ban is however not applicable to the nightclubs, bars and those buildings which host private parties.
With the application of this new stricter ban on smoking, Los Angeles shall become the largest city in the US which wouldn’t allow its residents to smoke in areas used for outdoor dining purposes. Villaraigosa took pride in declaring that Los Angeles will set an example for the other cities and nations to follow suit.
He further said that the residents of Los Angeles, known as Angelenos, already enjoy beaches, parks and farmer’s markets where smoking is not allowed, and, with the implementation of this new law, they will also be able to savor the outdoor dining pleasures which the city has to offer without getting exposed to passive smoking.
The existing ban on smoking was started by the City Council in the previous year. However, a grace period was announced for the businesses to voluntarily get on board before the ordinance could have become effective.
The existing ban is currently applicable on smoking inside bars and restaurants. This smoking ban will be increased to an area which is at least 10 feet from the food courts and the outdoor dining areas and 40 feet from the mobile food trucks, food cars and food kiosks.
According to the Lung Association of America, Tobacco tops the preventable reasons for disease and death in the California State and almost 60,000 people in America die of passive smoking.