In July, the Ellendale City Council voted in favor of the health of the children of Ellendale by making our city parks tobacco free. Effective immediately, no person will be allowed to use any form of tobacco under this new policy. Community members attended the initial council meeting in support of this policy.
Ellendale City Council members adopted this policy because they believe that tobacco use in park areas is detrimental to the health of everyone using the park system and can be offensive to those using recreational facilities. They also feel the tobacco-free policy provides the opportunity to change community norms around tobacco use and will help to reduce youth tobacco use.
“Our goal is to demonstrate to youth that tobacco use is not a part of a healthy lifestyle, and we believe that this policy can play a part in reducing youth tobacco use in our community, which will eventually save lives,” said Stephanie Kibler, Ellendale City Council member.
10% of youth in Steele County use at least one form of tobacco. By adopting this policy, the community of Ellendale is helping reduce the rate of tobacco use in our community and is demonstrating their belief that tobacco use and secondhand smoke just don’t belong in park areas where people go to improve their fitness and enjoy nature. 5,500 Minnesota adults die each year due to smoking, and $2.06 billion in annual Minnesota healthcare costs are directly attributable to smoking.
Council member Kibler supports the tobacco-free policy because it now complements the New Richland Hartland Ellendale Geneva school district tobacco-free grounds policy. The Ellendale policy will create a consistent tobacco-free policy among all the recreational facilities in our community, which eliminates confusion.
Steele County Public Health assisted the community of Ellendale in the policy development process and will be working with city officials to communicate the new tobacco policy, including posting signage and distributing materials describing the policy and other tobacco prevention resources to all youth leaders, coaches, and parents. Enforcement of the policy will come via the signs and community awareness measures.
The Tobacco-Free Youth Recreation (TFYR) program, a statewide tobacco prevention program, is providing Ellendale with metal tobacco-free signs free of charge. “We are pleased to add Ellendale to the growing list of Minnesota communities with tobacco-free park policies,” said Brittany McFadden, Director of TFYR.