Saturday was World No Tobacco day, so local health advocates in Durango threw a party.
About 75 people met in Rotary Park to celebrate the recent ordinance passed by the Durango City Council banning smoking in city parks, at bus stops, in city playgrounds and on the Animas River Trail or adjacent green ways.
With the backdrop of a swift-moving river and drenched in sunshine, there were kid’s games, musical acts, snacks and promotional materials. Families picnicked. Kids played.
A few smokers nearby were politely informed of some new rules.
Organized by volunteers and staff members of San Juan Basin Health’s Celebrating Healthy Communities Coalition, the ordinance is supported by the Colorado Indoor Clean Air Act, which bans indoor smoking in public places. The state act is a response to health risks discovered from secondhand smoke exposure, which according to the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, cost more than $5.6 billion dollars in lost productivity in 2006.
“Small towns all over the state were having a hard time passing local ordinances” said Lauren Patterson, a community volunteer and supporter of the health department. “It took a statewide act to take a look at the effects of secondhand smoke.”
bmathis@durangoherald.com
