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Jesse Arreguín
City Councilmember, District 4
CONSENT CALENDAR
March 24, 2015
To:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From:
Councilmember Jesse Arreguín
Subject: Support AB 768 – Tobacco Free Baseball Act
RECOMMENDATION
Adopt a Resolution supporting AB 768, the “Tobacco Free Baseball Act”, introduced by
Assemblymember Tony Thurmond. Send copies of the resolution to Assemblymember
Thurmond, State Senator Loni Hancock, Governor Jerry Brown, and bill coauthors
Assemblymember Richard Bloom and State Senator Mark Leno.
BACKGROUND
While the use of cigarettes has been in decline in the United States over the last few
decades, the use of smokeless tobacco has been increasing, especially among young
adults. Smokeless tobacco companies spent $450 million on marketing in 2011, more
than three times the amount they spent in 1998.
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in 2013, 14.7% of high school boys
and 8.8% of all high school students reported to currently use smokeless tobacco
products. It is estimated that 535,000 kids between the ages of 12-17 try smokeless
tobacco for the first time each year.
Smokeless tobacco contains at least 28 known carcinogens. Using smokeless tobacco,
including but not limited to snuff, dip, and chew, can result in mouth, esophagus, and
pancreatic cancer, other mouth diseases, complications with pregnancy, heart disease,
and stroke.
The use of smokeless tobacco products has been a prevalent problem in baseball. In
June 2014, Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn died at 54 from a long battle with salivary gland
cancer. In August 2014, pitching legend Curt Schilling, 47, announced his treatment of
oral cancer. Both players attributed these diseases to decades of chewing tobacco.
AB 768 would ban all tobacco products at all baseball games and leagues. This will not
only protect the health of players, but of kids, who would otherwise be exposed to
watching their favorite players and role models use tobacco products.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
None
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Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Building ● 2180 Milvia Street, 5 Floor, Berkeley, CA 94704 ● Tel: (510) 981-7140
Fax: (510) 981-7144 ● TDD: (510) 981-6903 ● E-Mail: [email protected] ● Web: www.jessearreguin.com
Support AB 768 – Tobacco Free Baseball Act
CONSENT CALENDAR
March 24, 2015
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
If AB 768 goes into effect, the environmental and health quality of baseball fields and
stadiums in California will improve.
CONTACT PERSON
Jesse Arreguin, Councilmember, District 4
Attachments:
1: Resolution
2: Text of AB 768
3: AB 768 Fact Sheet
Page 2
510-981-7140
RESOLUTION NO. ##,###-N.S.
SUPPORTING AB 768 – TOBACCO FREE BASEBALL ACT
WHEREAS, the use of smokeless tobacco products in the United States has increased
in recent years, especially among young adults; and
WHEREAS, 14.7% of high school boys and 8.8% of all high school students reported to
currently use smokeless tobacco products; and
WHEREAS, an estimated 535,000 kids between the ages of 12-17 try smokeless
tobacco for the first time each year; and
WHEREAS, smokeless tobacco contains at least 28 known carcinogens; and
WHEREAS, using smokeless tobacco can result in mouth, esophagus, and pancreatic
cancer, other mouth diseases, complications with pregnancy, heart disease, and stroke;
and
WHEREAS, former Major League Baseball players Tony Gwynn and Curt Schilling
attributed their cancer to decades of using chewing tobacco; and
WHEREAS, AB 768 would ban all tobacco products at all baseball games and leagues;
and
WHEREAS, the passage of AB 768 will not only protect the health of players, but of
kids, who would otherwise be exposed to watching their favorite players and role
models use tobacco products.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the City of Berkeley that it
hereby supports Assembly Bill 768.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this resolution be sent to Governor Jerry
Brown, State Senators Loni Hancock and Mark Leno, and Assemblymembers Tony
Thurmond and Richard Bloom.
Attachment 2
california legislature—2015–16 regular session
ASSEMBLY BILL
No. 768
Introduced by Assembly Member Thurmond
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Bloom)
(Coauthor: Senator Leno)
February 25, 2015
An act to add Article 1.5 (commencing with Section 118916) to
Chapter 4 of Part 15 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code,
relating to tobacco.
legislative counsel’s digest
AB 768, as introduced, Thurmond. Tobacco Free Baseball Act.
Existing law prohibits the smoking of tobacco in every publicly owned
building open to the general public for the primary purpose of exhibiting
a motion picture, stage drama, music recital, or any other performance,
with the exception of any indoor sporting event, except in designated
areas.
This bill would prohibit the use of tobacco products, as defined,
including smokeless tobacco, in a baseball stadium, which includes the
physical area in which a professional, collegiate, high school, or other
organized baseball game or practice is occurring. The bill would require
a baseball stadium to have posted at every entrance a conspicuous sign
clearly communicating that the use of tobacco products, including
smokeless tobacco, is prohibited. The bill provides that, if any provision
or its application is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other
provisions or applications that can be given effect without the invalid
provision or application.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
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AB 768
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The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
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SECTION 1. This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the
Tobacco Free Baseball Act.
SEC. 2. Article 1.5 (commencing with Section 118916) is
added to Chapter 4 of Part 15 of Division 104 of the Health and
Safety Code, to read:
Article 1.5. Public Spaces
118916. (a) The Legislature finds and declares that the
regulation on tobacco products in professional, collegiate, high
school, and other baseball stadiums is a matter of statewide interest
and concern. It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this
section to prohibit any tobacco product, including smokeless
tobacco, at any time at an event site for professional, collegiate,
high school, or other organized baseball games in all baseball
stadiums in this state, thereby eliminating the need for local
governments to enact tobacco restrictions within their respective
jurisdictions.
(b) A person shall not use a tobacco product at any time at a
baseball stadium.
(c) For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall
apply:
(1) “Baseball stadium” means the physical area in which a
professional, collegiate, high school, or other organized baseball
game or practice is occurring, including all open, semiopen, and
enclosed spaces and structures. A baseball stadium includes, but
is not limited to, playing fields, dugouts, bullpens, training rooms,
locker rooms, team bench areas, spectator seating areas, pedestrian
walkways, bathrooms, dining areas, vendor areas, offices, and
recreational areas.
(2) “Organized baseball” means baseball games played in
connection with an established league or other association of
persons.
(3) “Smokeless tobacco” means a product that contains cut,
ground, powdered, or leaf tobacco and is intended to be placed in
the oral or nasal cavity, including, but not limited to, snuff, chewing
tobacco, dipping tobacco, dissolvable tobacco products, and sinus.
(4) “Tobacco product” includes all of the following:
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AB 768
(A) A product made or derived from tobacco or nicotine that is
intended for human consumption, whether smoked, heated, chewed,
absorbed, dissolved, inhaled, snorted, sniffed, or ingested by any
other means, including, but not limited to, cigarettes, cigars, little
cigars, chewing tobacco, pipe tobacco, and snuff.
(B) An electronic device that delivers nicotine or other
substances to the person inhaling from the device, including, but
not limited to, an electronic cigarette, cigar, pipe, or hookah.
(C) A component, part, or accessory of a tobacco product,
whether or not sold separately.
(D) “Tobacco product” does not include a product that has been
approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for
sale as a tobacco cessation product or for other therapeutic purposes
where the product is marketed and sold solely for that approved
purpose.
(d) Each baseball stadium shall have posted at every entrance
a conspicuous sign clearly communicating that the use of tobacco
products, including smokeless tobacco, is prohibited. These signs
shall also be posted in all dugouts, bullpens, locker rooms, and
bathrooms.
(e) This section shall be construed as supplementing and
imposing prohibitions and requirements in addition to those in
existing law.
(f) The provisions of this section are severable. If any provision
of this section or its application is held invalid, that invalidity shall
not affect other provisions or applications that can be given effect
without the invalid provision or application.
O
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Attachment 3
Assemblymember Tony Thurmond, 15th Assembly District
AB 768 – Tobacco Free Baseball Act
IN BRIEF
AB 768, the Tobacco Free Baseball Act, would ban
the use of tobacco products at all organized baseball
games.
x
THE ISSUE
Recent events have focused attention on the
widespread use of smokeless tobacco and chewing
tobacco in Major League Baseball (MLB). First, Tony
Gwynn died of cancer that he had attributed to his
longtime use of chewing tobacco. Then Curt
Schilling revealed that he has been treated for oral
cancer that he, too, said was caused by chewing
tobacco. Unfortunately, the widespread use of
chewing tobacco remains a serious stain on the game.
It puts the health of players at risk and sets a terrible
example for young fans who idolize their favorite
players and copy their every move.
CURRENT LAW
In 1995 the CA legislature created the CA Workplace
Smoking Restrictions Act to address smoking and
second hand smoke in the workplace. The act
prohibited the use of tobacco products in an enclosed
space at a place of employment. In 1998 the act was
extended to include restaurants, bars, taverns, and
gaming clubs. Current law does not include smokeless
tobacco products. Sporting arenas, in particular
baseball arenas, are not addressed in statute and
baseball is the sport where chewing tobacco is most
prevalent.
SPONSOR
Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Bridget Kolakosky, Office of Asm. Tony Thurmond
916 319 2015 | [email protected]
Factsheet for AB 768 (Thurmond), Updated March 5, 2015