Ms.

Aukima Benjamin Staff Assistant Committee on Transportation and the Environment Council of the District of Columbia 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, D.C. 20004 (202) 724-8062 abenjamin@dccouncil.us Re:! ! Bill 20-93, the Prohibition of Smoking Near Playground Act of 2013 Bill 20-95, the Smoking Restriction Amendment Act of 2013

Good morning, Committee Chairman Cheh, Members of the Committee and staff. Ms Cheh your leadership on so many issues from taxi service to public safety is truly making the District not only world class, but one of the most desirable cities in the world to live. Thank you very much for holding this hearing to discuss the issue of smoking around the Districts public playgrounds. My name is Martin Moulton, I am a home owner in Shaw and a non smoker. For more than a decade, I have done consulting work for one of the most notable cancer research hospitals in the country and have a few relatives who have suffered from smoking related diseases. I am also on the board of the Washington Area Bicyclist Association that promotes health and wellness and a cleaner healthier environment through cycling. I do not speak for any of these groups today, but as a person familiar with the tobacco related causes of cancer who is concerned about the health and well being of all District residents.

Its not uncommon to see smokers on District property on the small plaza in front of the Kennedy Recreation Center in Shaw, who smoke with reckless abandon and with little to no discouragement. Those entering this health and wellness center seniors, with respiratory problems, like my own dad, and children, must thus walk through a cloud of poisonous smoke before beginning their health related routines. The irony there is profound and you, or elected officials have the power to change this destructive reality.
While I wholeheartedly support the proposals in your current bills, I feel that when we consider the harmful impacts that smoking tobacco products cause in our society, your goals with these bills do not go far enough. Harmful tobacco products are poison. The hazards of second hand smoke are well known. We live in a free society, people are basically allowed to kill themselves. Privately, and in designated areas, people should have the liberty to do as they please. However, tacitly accepting that people will smoke in and around public places, permits individuals who smoke not only to shorten their lives by at least a decade according to some studies but promote their habits among others including the Districts young people. Permitting adults, teachers, coaches and/or government recreation staff smoke on the grounds of the Districts public playgrounds and recreation centers must fulll a dream of the tobacco industry. The money companies like Phillip Morris and Altria spend promoting the Marlboro Man and Virginia Slims, and on their lobbyists a few miles away in Richmond, Virginia home of their largest drug plant in the world, cannot buy better advertising that targets children than having the people children look up to smoking their products on the locations of what should be health, wellness, recreation and tness centers. (Gun lobby ofcials likely dream they had the level of acceptance that the smoking lobby enjoys.)

The American Heart Association* and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention** are absolutely clear, and even the tobacco industry seems reluctant to challenge the fact that smoking is the single most preventable cause of disease, disability, and death in the United States. Other sources*** note that smoking is the cause of nearly five million deaths in the United States each year, nearly thirty times larger than the national gun violence murder rate for American residents killing other American residents. Forget about the Sandy Hook massacre and other high profile atrocities and the plague of urban gun violence, supporting tobacco manufacturers who kill and disable District residents for profit is more heinous than supporting the NRA, gun manufacturers, gun dealers, and violent gangs who fetishize guns and have little regard for how they destroy human life. Smoking should be banned on all District government property, particularly playgrounds and recreation centers, public bus stops, including the sidewalks surrounding such facilities. Signage to prohibit smoking should include painted sidewalk markers which explicitly state that smoking is prohibited near playgrounds, recreation centers and other government facilities, and punishable by fine. I would suggest that a fine of $300 the approximate cost of smoking a pack of cigarettes a day for a month would give smokers sufficient reason not to risk wasting their money and instead stepping away to choose an alternate venue. Enforcement is crucial with all laws. However, since or MPD officers have many more pressing duties, this law should permit photo reporting by citizens this would allow a soccer mom or even a child to take a picture of a smoker with their smartphone and immediately report that to the Districts 311 or MPD anonymous Text 50411 lines. Posted wall and fence signage, if

not the sidewalk signage, should promote this. If nothing else, such features will serve as a sufficient deterrent for smokers and allow non smokers to address violations without getting into ugly confrontations with persons who are essentially suicidal drug addicts. In her recent White House discussion**** of the film 42 about her husband, Rachel Robinson, noted that Jackie Robinson was famously opposed to smoking which was anathema to his peerless athleticism and vision for how he and others should live productive and healthy lives. As the Department of Health and other agencies promote these new laws, they should feature American heroes like Robinson as examples. Thank you very much for your time. Martin Moulton 1510 Fifth Street NW WDC 20001 (202) 422-1161, MoultonM@aol.com
*The American Heart Association **Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: http://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/resources/ publications/aag/osh.htm ***Smoking v. Murder deaths. http://stpeteforpeace.org/real.threat.html ****Ms Jackie Robinson at the White House discussing lm 42", http://youtu.be/6tPZxr4SEnc? t=54m