American Lung Association flunks county, cities

Grady Tolle hates smoke in his face when he is eating.

He thinks it's rude.

"And I smoke — more than a pack a day," said Tolle, who was recently enjoying a lunch on the outdoor patio at the Stealhead Lodge at Colusa Landing.

While he said it would not bother him had the existing law prohibiting smoking at restaurants included outside eating areas, he said the growing number of restrictions against what is a legal activity is a concern.

"I usually try to be considerate. I walk away from the seats when I am watching my grandson playing foo ball or baseball, and I don't smoke around people who are eating, Most of the people who smoke, that I know, are the same way," said Tolle.

"But I am not going to crawl into a cave to smoke."

Of course, the American Lung Association would like to see everyone stop smoking all together, but for now, is taking aim at protecting non-smokers.

And the organization believes Colusa County — and the cities of Colusa and Williams — are doing little or nothing to accomplish that goal.

In fact, they are failing miserably, according to its annual State of Tobacco Control 2012 report.

Colusa County and its two cities have received failing grades from the American Lung Association for their efforts to control tobacco use, and to protect the public from secondhand smoke.

The report is not a reflection of actual tobacco use in the county, but rather what local jurisdictions are doing to extend protections for the nonsmoking public.

In short, these Fs are given to the policymakers, not the smokers.

Shelly Brantley, program director for the American Lung Association in California, said the idea is for the local jurisdictions to go beyond the state laws and set stiffer restrictions on where smoking is allowed.

Brantley said the need for written laws banning or restricting smoking in certain areas are not meant for the people like Tolle who make an effort to keep their smoke from others. The rules are put in place for those who are not as considerate.

One example would be local ordinances banning smoking in outdoor eating areas. Another would be to extend a no-smoking area around the entrances to buildings used by the public.

Restricting smoking at youth recreation events or places where children play, or designating smoking areas in public parks also are target areas.

But the American Lung Association also grades on efforts to provide non-smoking housing options, and on efforts to reduce the sale of tobacco products.

The county and cities received the falling grade in every single category the Lung Association tracks, except a D given to the county for policies regarding recreational areas, though what specific policy in place raised that grade was not immediately known.

Colusa is hardly alone in its outcome. Virtually all North State counties and most cities failed.

That, in fact, is largely true for the rest of the state, according to the report, and that despite the percentage of adult smokers in California having declined nine straight years, and is at a historical low.

The American Lung Association reports only 11.7 percent of California adults are smokers.

Officials at the Colusa County Tobacco Education Program were not available.