SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – Vista Community Clinic is launching a campaign to promote a community-wide, smoke-free outdoor dining policy in San Marcos to protect restaurant customers and employees from toxic secondhand smoke.
Clinic staff conducted an in-person survey of 309 San Marcos residents, students and frequent visitors in late 2019. Results indicated high levels of public support for smoke-free outdoor dining. Eight of ten (81%) respondents agreed that cities should have laws that prohibit smoking on outdoor restaurant patios and sidewalk cafes. The vast majority (91%) preferred to eat in outdoor dining areas that are smoke-free and half would eat in outdoor dining areas more often if secondhand smoke were eliminated.
“We know that smoke-free outdoor dining is already popular among San Marcos restaurant customers,” said Jennifer Gill, Program Supervisor, Tobacco Control Program, for Vista Community Clinic. “When the dangers of COVID-19 recede, we believe diners will appreciate smoke-free outdoor dining even more as a way to eliminate another air-borne threat to their health.”
According to the US Surgeon General, secondhand smoke is deadly, killing 50,000 people every year in the United States, and there is no safe level of exposure, indoors or outdoors. San Marcos residents agree. The survey showed that more than nine of ten (92%) respondents believe that secondhand smoke is bad for their health, even outdoors. And 74% reported being bothered by secondhand smoke when eating outside.
“This hits close to the heart for me because my mum passed away from an asthma attack when I was 12 years old. I have asthma and my daughter tends to wheezeand has an inhaler,” said San Marcos resident Sharmin Jesuthasan. “Although we love sitting outdoors to enjoy a meal at a restaurant, we can’t go to restaurants that permit smoking. Our family’s health must come first.”
To assist those who are particularly vulnerable to the health effects of secondhand smoke, Vista Community Clinic has posted a list of the 60 San Marcos restaurants that already offer smoke-free outdoor dining areas: http://northcoastalpreventioncoalition.org/programs/tc/sfod/guide/.
Vista Community Clinic is sharing the results of the public opinion survey with members of the San Marcos city council. For more information or to become involved in this vital effort, please contact Jennifer Gill at Jennifer.Gill@vcc.org.
About VCC
With eight state-of-the-art locations in North San Diego, Orange and Riverside Counties, VCC provides affordable, high quality health care to more than 69,000 community residents. Servicesoffered by VCC include primary care, pediatrics, prenatal and women’s health, optometry, chiropractic care, dental health, podiatry, acupuncture and behavioral health services. VCC also offers a wide array of community health education programs which are freeand open to all community residents. VCC is recognized by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) as a Level 3 (highest) Patient-Centered Medical Home, and is the recipient of the HRSA National Quality Leader Seal for exceeding national clinicalquality benchmarks. For more information call 760.631.5000 or visit www.vcc.org.
