2018 Winter Kansas Child

Clean & Healthy Outdoor Spaces
CHRIS THIEL
Student,
Wichita State University
Picture this: You take your family to enjoy the park
in your community. As your children begin playing,
it’s not difficult to notice other park-goers smoking
on or around playground equipment, lounging areas,
and largely populated spaces. You notice a substantial
amount of litter from cigarette butts and other tobacco
products just waiting to be picked up by a curious child.
This is a problem that needs to be addressed in the
interests of safety and cleanliness in your community.
This situation is a reality at many parks across the
nation and state of Kansas, where comprehensive,
enforceable tobacco-free park policies are few and
far between. This lack of policy allows community
members to smoke cigarettes and other tobacco
products in public recreation areas without
consequence, subjecting others, especially children, to
secondhand smoke and littering the ground with many
dangerous toxins for any child or pet to pick up and
perhaps accidentally consume.
When exposed to the effects of secondhand tobacco
smoke, people are at a much higher risk of serious and
life-threatening health issues, including heart disease,
cancer, asthma, and other respiratory disorders. 1 It’s
important to remember that there is no safe level
of exposure to secondhand smoke. Recent studies
have even found that secondhand smoke is just as
dangerous in an outdoor area as it is indoors, and can
deter those with asthma and allergies from going to
places where they might encounter tobacco smoke. 2
In addition to the obvious health benefits of
tobacco-free park policies, cigarette butts are not
biodegradable. 3 Because of this, tobacco-free park
policies save city staff from picking up this toxic litter
and benefit the environment. Litter from tobacco
products is incredibly unattractive, expensive to
remove, and a blatant hazard to waterways and wildlife.
Additionally, parks and other outdoor public spaces,
such as ballparks, could be some community
members’ only access to a relaxing, natural
environment, which is why cities need to provide clean,
healthy outdoor spaces. Several cities in Kansas have
already passed legislation or policy to make their parks
tobacco-free, including Lawrence, Eudora, Hiawatha,
Highland, and South Hutchinson. Please advocate for
tobacco-free policies in your city’s parks and outdoor
settings and let’s provide clean and healthy outdoor
spaces for all Kansas families to enjoy. n
Chris Thiel is a Public Health Sciences
student at Wichita State University,
serving as a Health Professions Senator
for Student Government, member
of Sigma Phi Epsilon, and the Greek
Relations Chair for the Interfraternity
Council. He also works on campus as
a Supplemental Instruction leader for
Anatomy and Physiology and as a Student
Project Assistant at the Community
Engagement Institute in the Center for
Public Health Initiatives. After graduation,
Chris plans to become a Physician
Assistant and get a Master’s in Public
Health. He has also served as the Youth
Advisor for Resist for a little over a year,
and is passionate about tobacco control
and youth advocacy.
1. U.S. DEPT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION, The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: Report
of the Surgeon General (2006), http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/secondhandsmoke/report/index.html.
2. James Repace, Benefits of Smoke-free Regulations in Outdoor Settings: Beaches, Golf Courses, Parks, Patios and in Motor Vehicles, 34 WM MITCHELL LAW REVIEW 4 (2008)
3. CigaretteLitter.org, Cigarette Litter, http://www.cigarettelitter.org.
14 Kansas Child A Publication of Child Care Aware ® of Kansas