No.75 Regulation of street smoking, etc.

At the fourth regular meeting of the City Council in December 2017, the "Inagi City Ordinance on Restrictions on Smoking on Streets" was passed and will come into effect from April 1, 2018. The city is currently preparing for public awareness, but the contents of the ordinance were published in the January 15, 2018 issue of Public Relations Inagi, so please also check it out.
Regarding street smoking and walking tobacco, various opinions have been received from citizens, and many members of the city council have raised the issue.
Regarding regulations regarding tobacco, littering of cigarette butts is prohibited in the ``Inagi City Citizens' Ordinance to Keep the City Clean,'' which was formulated by citizens in 2000.
When this ordinance was drawn up, there was apparently discussion about banning smoking on the streets, but this did not lead to direct regulation. Although there are precedents in other cities, there are many cases in which restrictions are placed mainly on downtown areas, and for the time being, smokers' manners will be implemented based on the smoking environment at the time and the opinions of the ``Inagi City Citizens' Council to Clean Town.'' The policy is to address this problem through campaigns and other awareness-raising activities.
Up until now, we have requested people to improve their smoking manners at various events such as the citizen council's practical actions to keep the town clean, environmental beautification citizen movements, and station awareness activities, but unfortunately, we have been asked to improve smoking manners. There is no end to it.
Since then, citizens' interest in the effects of passive smoking has increased, and many opinions regarding the prevention of passive smoking have been received. This is a problem that cannot be solved simply by regulating the littering of cigarette butts, and there is a limit to regulating citizens' ordinances to keep the town clean.
Recently, I included in my 2015 election manifesto the idea of ​​``promoting the regulation and appropriateness of smoking in public spaces,'' and I consulted citizens' councils on countermeasures, and took the time to clarify the scope and content of the regulations. We considered and discussed.
On the other hand, a petition was submitted to the city council in September 2015 regarding the ban on street smoking and walking tobacco. This petition expressed harsh opinions about the city's efforts to date and called for a ban on the entire city of Inagi, but in the end it was adopted with the support of all city council members.
The current ordinance was formulated based on these developments and through discussions at the agency's formulation committee regarding the draft ordinance.
The two points of discussion regarding regulations were how to link and balance the prevention of passive smoking, which is an issue that falls under the jurisdiction of the Health Division, and the regulation of street smoking, which is an issue that falls under the jurisdiction of the Environment Division.
As a result, smoking areas will not be established in front of stations, smoking will be prohibited on roads and other public places within prohibited areas such as a radius of 300 meters in front of stations, and people will be required to make efforts to refrain from smoking while walking throughout the city. It happened. Our aim is to both beautify the environment and promote health, so we appreciate your support.
When the ordinance goes into effect in April 2018, we plan to station smoking prevention instructors on the streets and other areas where smoking is prohibited to ensure that everyone is aware of the ordinance and that it is complied with.
Additionally, there is a provision that those who violate the prohibited acts stipulated in the ordinance can be fined 2,000 yen. Please understand that the application of these penalties will require a certain amount of time to be publicized, so we plan to start within three years, taking into consideration trends in public awareness regarding the ordinance.