Starting Monday, smoking is no longer allowed in any of Seattle鈥檚 465 public parks. The city鈥檚聽Board of Park Commissioners unanimously voted for the ban in May, . The city of Dearborn, Michigan, is expected to do the same, , though the proposal hasn鈥檛 been approved.
Seattle鈥檚 new rule is an update to an old policy that banned smoking within 25 feet of nonsmokers, . Smokers won鈥檛 be kept out of the parks, and violators won鈥檛 immediately be cited for smoking. Instead, park personnel聽will approach smokers and ask if they know smoking isn鈥檛 allowed in the parks, and will then give them info on where they can smoke and resources for quitting. Despite this warning system and lack of citations, 听谤别辫辞谤迟蝉 that police may still arrest people caught smoking.
Dearborn, a Detroit suburb with 43 public parks, has also proposed a ban on all forms of smoking, including cigarettes, e-cigarettes, cigars, and hookahs, according to CBS Detroit. Smokers would not be ticketed right away聽but could be fined $25 if they don鈥檛 heed police warnings to stop smoking. Dearborn鈥檚 city council will consider the ban on July 23.
About 1,000 other cities in the country, including New York and San Francisco, already ban smoking in public parks.