Oakland enters into the worldwide debate on smoking bans as the Town Council considers a proposal to prohibit smoking in public by anyone 19 years and younger. The ordinance, which has been proposed by the Municipal Alliance, is in response to high school students stepping off of school grounds to smoke cigarettes. Schools in NJ have strict laws governing the smoking of cigarettes on school property, and students caught smoking may be issued a summons to appear in municipal court.
Some students have been stepping off of school grounds and on to private property creating a nuisance for homes in the neighborhood who must deal with the loitering and littering problem that results. It was reported that one homeowner has gone so far as to place a receptacle for the used cigarette butts on the edge of his property in the hopes that student smokers may alleviate him of the litter problem.
There is no consensus on how Oakland should proceed with implementation of the proposal. Franklin Lakes has already instituted an ordinance which is causing students at RHS to step over to the Oakland border to smoke cigarettes. Residents in Oakland, joined by Council Member Burns, voiced concerns over the arbitrary nature of imposing a ban based on age. One argument involved the disconnect between asking young Americans to serve their country, yet denying them their legal right to engage in a lawful activity–in NJ you must be 19 years old to buy tobacco. Another believed that criminalization of the activity would not address the health benefits that proponents emphasize as a major impetus for the law.
The debate in Oakland is helpful in bringing attention to underage smoking and showing that everyone is concerned with the situation. Also, discussions over civil liberties is an important topic and educative for younger members of the community, but the debate in Oakland may eventually become moot. The NJ Assembly, on March 17 of 2008, passed to the State Senate Bill A2177 which will prohibit persons under the age of 19 from smoking or carrying a lighted tobacco product in an outdoor public place. Considering that the bill was originally introduced into the Assembly on February 25 of 2008, there is the possibility of this being enacted into law soon. The State law provides the option of a written warning prior to the imposition of a summons which would carry a fine.
Many residents State wide still have reservations based on the same arguments voiced at the Oakland Town Council meeting. As a nation at war, there is an increased sensitivity to infringing on the rights of individuals who have volunteered to serve their country. The Armed Services have been trying to actively discourage smoking going back to 1986 when Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger instituted a program that prohibited smoking except for certain exceptions. Recently, there have been programs instituted at particular bases that prohibit American soldiers from smoking in uniform. Other governments around the world are also addressing the fact that a higher percentage of soldiers smoke than in the general population. Israel has only recently begun to place smoking restrictions on army bases; but one Israeli civilian commented that war was also known to be hazardous to a soldier’s health, and there was no proposed ban on battles.
The Oakland residents expressing concerns over the effectiveness of the local ordinance in promoting healthy habits, and its apparent impact on civil liberties, were both ex-smokers. They were well aware of the dangers in developing a smoking habit, but felt this ordinance had broader implications. For those residents who do smoke but are interested in quitting, there is a growing interest in what is being called “e-cigarettes”. These devices are becoming popular for those attempting to quit and those who enjoy smoking where it is banned. The e-cigarette is an electronic cigarette that delivers nicotine via water vapors through a battery operated device designed to look like a cigarette. The white puff that appears is not smoke, but water vapor, and the nicotine is encased in a replaceable cartridge. Although users are still subject to the effects of nicotine, they are not exposed to the numerous toxic elements present in a normal cigarette. As there is no smoke, there are no restrictions on where it can be used and the cost is usually less than those of standard cigarettes.