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STAFF REPORT <br />TO:Parks & Recreation Commission <br />FROM:Bryce Shearen, CPRE, Parks & Recreation/Community Services Director <br />Brian Reimers, Veterans Administration Fellow <br />DATE:September 7, 2023 <br />RE:Park Ordinance Amendment – Tobacco and Cannabis Use in Parks and Park <br />Facilities <br />ACTION REQUESTED <br />If desired, a motion to recommend approval of and adoption of the Ordinance Amendment to <br />Chapter 2601 – Control and Management of Parks and Park Facilities to the City Council. <br />BACKGROUND <br />Acting in the health interests of the citizens of the City of Little Canada, staff seeks to reduce <br />commercial tobacco, cannabis, and cannabis-related product use with the City of Little Canada <br />parks and park facilities. Commercial tobacco is the single most preventable cause of death and <br />disease. Long-term commercial tobacco use is directly related to many illnesses, including lung, <br />oral, and pharyngeal cancer and heart and lung diseases. For example, in Ramsey County, one in <br />eight deaths is commercial tobacco-related, and commercial tobacco creates $262.7 million in <br />excess medical costs and a $753 tax burden per household. <br />Commercial tobacco-free policies help ensure all community members have a healthy <br />environment in which to live. These policies help people who are trying to quit by eliminating <br />the sight and smell of commercial tobacco, cannabis, and cannabis-related products. This <br />ordinance update will prohibit persons from using tobacco and or cannabis products while in a <br />park(s) and park facilities. <br />Additionally, according to the 2016 Tobacco-Free Youth Recreation’s Guide to Tobacco-Free <br />Policies for Community Parks Systems, there are nine cities within Ramsey County that have <br />adopted a Tobacco-Free park policy. Those include Roseville, Shoreview, New Brighton, <br />Maplewood, St. Paul, Arden Hills, North St. Paul, Mounds View, and Falcon Heights. All of <br />these surrounding cities adopted this policy in the early 2000s, with the one exception of Falcon <br />Heights which adopted the policy in 2012. The fact that Little Canada has not adopted this <br />Tobacco-Free policy indicates that it is well behind the curve in operating on par with <br />surrounding municipalities. <br />Staff completed extensive research regarding the ‘best practices’ of surrounding communities to <br />see what language other cities’ parks and recreation ordinances were using. After a thorough