The nation’s favorite pastime just became a healthier sport in the home of Major League Baseball’s Giants, thanks to a historic ordinance passed Tuesday. The rule would ban tobacco products from San Francisco’s baseball venues and athletic fields.
The draft ordinance will prohibit all tobacco products—including chewing tobacco, which is popular among professional baseball players—from athletic fields in San Francisco city and county, beginning Jan. 1. It was passed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in a unanimous vote. A final vote will be taken April 28 before the ordinance goes to the mayor for his signature.
The ordinance comes just nine months after several of the nation’s largest health care and public health groups, including the AMA, formally called on Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association to completely prohibit tobacco use at ballparks and on camera.
“Kids see athletes as role models, and when baseball stars use smokeless tobacco, the kids who look up to them are much more likely to as well,” said Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. “Our national pastime should have nothing to do with promoting a deadly and addictive product.”
“San Francisco will become the first city to take tobacco out of baseball, setting a powerful example that all of Major League Baseball and the rest of the country should quickly follow,” Myers said.
Learn more about the past 50 years of anti-tobacco activity.
