Smoking Continues in Lakewood, Wash. City Parks

A 4-3 vote by the Lakewood City Council last night will allow for smoking to continue in city parks. Instead of an outright smoking ban, recommended multiple times by the city’s Parks Advisory Board, smoking will be banned 50 feet from fields, picnic and play areas.

Councilman John Simpson rejected the proposal because he could not find evidence supporting the effects of secondhand smoke.

Lakewood is located in western Washington. Tacoma, the largest city in Pierce County, banned park smoking five-years ago. Lakewood is located to Tacoma’s southwest and has a population just shy of 60,000.

Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.