Marion council questions nicotine ban in parks

MARION - Smokers, don't think you've puffed your last cigarette or tossed your last butt in a Marion park. Yet.

City Council members expressed skepticism Tuesday night as they heard from Blue Zones Project Marion representatives and considered a recommendation from the Marion Park Board to ban nicotine from all Marion parks.

Council member Mary Lou Pazour called a nicotine prohibition 'unenforceable” and said it didn't make sense to create an ordinance that people will readily ignore.

Council member Paul Draper said two smokers have called him to say they want their city taxes reduced by the amount that goes to Marion parks because they wouldn't be able to use them anymore if the ban passes.

Mayor Snooks Bouska said the council wants to target tobacco use around swing sets, splash pads and ball fields but he wasn't sure about something broader.

Marion is a Blue Zones wellness community, and Bouska wondered if Marion would get special credit with a nicotine ban in parks.

Sara Mentzer, the Blue Zones community program manager, said such bans are not mandatory under the program scoring criteria.

Council member Kim Etzel asked if it might be better to ban nicotine in some parks and not others, and Mike Carolan, the city's parks and recreation director, said the board recommended all parks. Mentzer said it would be too unclear if the ban was not imposed uniformly.

Council member Joe Spinks said he'd like to see a nicotine ban in parks but smokers needed a designated spot to smoke. 'We don't want to alienate those people,” he said.

Council member Cody Crawford spoke in favor of the ban, saying communities already restrict smoking and have gotten worries that bans in restaurants and other places would be unenforceable and that smokers' rights were being violated.

Crawford said Marion is working on 'branding” itself as family-friendly and said such a ban would help.

'What do we want Marion to be?” he asked.

On Thursday, council members will set a date for a public hearing. They did not have to, but the mayor said he wanted one.