Lighting up a cigarette in a Clutha district public park,
playground, sports ground or at a family-orientated event
could soon be officially frowned upon.
The Central Otago District Council's new smoke-free policy
for council playgrounds - adopted on a motion moved by the
council's two smokers - will not be enforced.
Banning smoking in open public places would not be a costly
exercise for the Waitaki District Council, with Public Health
South estimating a cost of about $3500 to put up 39 smokefree
signs.
Voluntary smokefree units at Otago Corrections Facility (OCF)
and nicotine replacements are helping prisoners break the
habit before a smokefree ban is introduced later this year.
Some psychiatric staff at Dunedin's Wakari Hospital did not
want to prevent locked-in psychiatric patients smoking, while
some patients used a toaster to light up during a ban,
internal Southern District Health Board meeting notes and
emails reveal.
