Parents Argue Against Smoking in Norman Parks

By Gan Matthews, NEWS 9

NORMAN, Oklahoma -- Smoking is banned in many places throughout the state, including several restaurants and bar, and now some communities are trying to ban smoking in public parks.

Andrews Park is one of 62 public parks in the City of Norman. While it's currently legal to smoke in all of the parks, the Norman City Council gets its first look at a proposed ordinance that would ban smoking in parks.

Parents in the parks argue the smoke may not be good for their children.

"Sometimes you see the smoke and you have to walk away from it," parent Bryan Cormany said. "My kids, they have asthma."

Parents also worry about the cigarette butts lying around the parks.

"My daughter's just crawling, so she's crawling on the grass, finding cigarette butts," parent Amanda Salcido said. "We had to take five or six of them away from her."

City Council member Doug Cubberly supports the ban for reasons of image, as well as health.

"We're fighting on a daily basis the image that it's okay to smoke," Cubberly said. "We see smoking all around us."

Enforcing such an ordinance would ultimately be up to local citizens.

"They would ask people to cooperate with it," said Jud Foster, director of Parks & Recreation. "If someone was not cooperative, then actually the police would be involved."

Norman has consulted with other communities in Oklahoma and other states in drafting the ordinance.

Under the proposed ordinance the only exceptions for smoking would be in park parking lots and at the Westwood golf course.