Ramsey County may ban all smoking in its buildings, parks; some employees say it's a step too far

Ramsey County leaders are considering a tough new smoking and vaping ban that would forbid indoor and outdoor tobacco use on all of its properties including its 6,500 acres of parks, offices and corrections facilities. Smokers would even be prohibited from lighting up while sitting in their own vehicles in county-owned parking lots.

Public health advocates say the policy is needed as e-cigarette use, often called vaping, is pushing youth tobacco use up in the state. But some Ramsey County workers are pushing back.

Under the current smoking policy passed in 2015, smoking is allowed outside, but tobacco users must stand 25 feet away from building entries and open windows.

"Ultimately the objectives of this ordinance is really to protect the health of the people of Ramsey County from the negative effects of commercial tobacco while in public places and places of employment," said Sara Hollie, director of St. Paul-Ramsey County Public Health. The goal, she added, is to "reduce commercial tobacco use and exposure in children, young adults and also our entire community."

The ban would eliminate smoking in designated areas at all county facilities, including outside the county jail and workhouse. The ban would not apply to motorists on county roads, said a county spokeswoman.

If the ban is passed, Hollie said, Ramsey County would join about two dozen Minnesota cities, counties and townships including neighboring Hennepin County that have adopted similar ordinances.

Public health advocates, including a cardiologist and a youth program director, praised enacting a more restrictive tobacco policy at a recent public hearing,

"As a cardiologist, I have seen firsthand the damage tobacco has done to people's lives and health," said Dr. Thomas Kottke, HealthPartners medical director of wellbeing, during the public hearing. "Unfortunately tobacco use in Minnesota recently increased for the first time in 17 years in large part due to e-cigarettes. The best way to help someone beat tobacco is to eliminate the cues that encourage them to start in the fist place. Tobacco-free polices do exactly that."

Kottke implored commissioners to pass the policy, saying the health benefit could not be overstated since tobacco use kills more than 6,000 Minnesotans every year and costs the state more than $3 billion annually in health care costs.

"You will do more in one year than I've done in 40 years as a cardiologist," he said.

Damone Presley Sr., a youth program director in St. Paul, said the tobacco industry targets communities of color, particularly the Black population. He said he supports a strict no-tobacco policy.

"We need leaders like you to stand up to the tobacco industry and just say no more," Presley said.

But one labor leader said a total tobacco ban could force employees into unsafe situations.

Tianna May,who works in Ramsey County Emergency Communications and is president of the Law Enforcement Labor Services Local 353, said there are safety concerns for workers forced to leave county property during overnight shifts. May said county employees, including 911 call takers and dispatchers, who work next to the jail and county detox facility, already get approached outside the workplace.

"Having to go off-grounds to smoke while still on the clock is a safety concern," May said. "Now we don't know where they are at and we don't have them on camera anymore. This job is stressful enough as it is. Asking them to quit or risk their safety to continue to smoke is a huge safety concern."

Hollie said the county is listening to employee concerns and trying to map out locations people can smoke off county property.

"We aren't expecting people to quit overnight," Hollie said. "We know it's not easy to quit smoking."

The county board could vote on the proposed ban as early as July 12.