Orange County Municipal Code Art. 1 Legislative Finding

The Board of Supervisors of the County of Orange finds and declares that tobacco smoking is a hazard to the health of the general public. Studies clearly demonstrate that smoking is a hazard to the health of those who smoke. Smoking is responsible for the premature death of approximately three thousand (3,000) Orange County residents each year from lung cancer, heart disease, respiratory illness, and other diseases. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has concluded that secondhand tobacco smoke is a human carcinogen and responsible for over three thousand (3,000) lung cancer deaths in nonsmoking adults each year. Therefore, secondhand smoke is a proven health hazard to those who are present in confined spaces. In order to serve the public health, safety and welfare, the declared purpose of this division is to prohibit the smoking of tobacco, or any weed or plant, in buildings or motor vehicles owned or leased by the County of Orange and in County of Orange spaces in buildings partially leased by the County of Orange, and in certain other places subject to the jurisdiction or control of the County of Orange, except as otherwise provided in this division. In addition, the Board of Supervisors declares that vending machines which sell or distribute tobacco products contribute to the onset of tobacco use. Studies have found that ninety (90) percent of all current smokers become addicted by the age of nineteen (19). Therefore, the U.S. Secretary of Health, the U.S. Surgeon General, and leading voluntary health organizations all recommend the elimination of such vending machines in public places for health reasons.

(Ord. No. 3900, § 1, 12-14-93; Ord. No. 98-15, § 47, 12-8-98)