BOISE, ID. – Boise’s City Council is weighing two anti-smoking proposals today. One bans smoking at indoor businesses; the other in city parks. Smokers at one Boise park are unhappy about the idea.
Boise State University is a smoke-free campus so one popular spot to take a puff is over a bridge at Julia Davis Park. That might change if the City Council votes to ban smoking in public parks. Boise State student Julien Woodbury finishes a cigarette. He says the ban would take away personal rights.
Julien Woodbury: “After we’re done with class, this is an area that we can go, relax, have a cigarette, deal with our stresses, and talk.”
The Boise Parks and Recreation Commission recommended a smoking ban in all city parks and the Greenbelt in July. Superintendent of Parks Doug Holloway said then they want to protect kids from second-hand smoke.
David Holloway: “What started out as a ban in youth sports complexes only and skate parks, you know, has essentially grown into a recommendation by the Commission to say, ‘Why don’t we just ban smoking in all parks?’”
Boise’s City Council holds public hearings this afternoon and tonight on this proposal and another that would prohibit smoking indoors.
Copyright 2011 Boise State Public Radio