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DEL MAR: Smoking squeezed out of county fair
Reggae concerts also get new rules
By RUTH MARVIN WEBSTER - Staff Writer | ∞
DEL MAR ---- Bowing to pressure from parents and anti-smoking activists, the agency that runs the Del Mar Fairgrounds decided last week to all but ban cigarette smoking at the annual county fair and to pump up security at the fair's reggae concerts.
Under a new policy approved Tuesday by the board of the 22nd District Agricultural Association, cigarette smoking at the fair will be limited to specially designated smoking areas. Smoking has already been restricted in the infield Kiddieland area of the county fair for the past two years.
Last week's action was in response to complaints about widespread marijuana smoking at a Ziggy Marley concert at the fairgrounds in August. Anti-smoking activists used that incident to push for an all-out smoking ban.
The smoking policy approved by the fair board won't apply to the annual horse racing season or to other concerts and events held at the sprawling seaside venue.
Still, Ross Porter, communications director for the American Lung Association of California, applauded the smoking restrictions at the fair, adding that he hoped the designated smoking areas would be placed far from view of the general public.
"The more that we can make smoking a rare behavior, the fewer kids will take it up," Porter said. "We've been hoping to get a smoke-free policy at the Del Mar Fairgrounds because it is such a family environment."
Oceanside resident Tracy Scheidel, a longtime fairgoer who has attended several concerts there, said the new smoking policy is a bummer.
"If they are truly concerned about the fair being a family atmosphere, they should target the booze," Scheidel said. "It is easier to ban smoking because they are not making money on that. It's $7.50 to $8.50 for a beer and they are making money on that."
Debra Kelley, senior director of advocacy for the American Lung Association of California, was among the activists who urged the fairgrounds to implement a ban on smoking.
"I think that this is the next big step," she said. "They (the fair) now will be joining an elite group of county fairs in the state that have essentially made their grounds smoke-free."
The smoking policy was approved by the fairground's board of directors at its monthly meeting Tuesday. The board also instituted new procedures for the fair's reggae concerts, which will now be held only in the Grandstand area and limited to patrons 21 years or older.
"We'll be carding everyone," said Talin Hartounian, an information officer at the fairgrounds. "And there will be pat-downs and heightened security as well."
Hartounian said the board is also considering making all reggae concerts at the fair paid admission. Some concerts during the three-week fair are free with the price of an entry ticket to the fair.
Porter said a ban on cigarette smoking makes controlling illegal marijuana use during concerts that much easier.
Scheidel said she has been to many concerts at the fair and never noticed a problem with drugs.
"Pot smoking in public is already illegal," she said. "I really have a problem with people who have nothing better to do than to impose their beliefs on another group of people who are not causing them any problem."
The Ziggy Marley performance was one in a series of summer concerts called Four O'Clock Fridays put on by the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club.
Hartounian said that fairground management has been in communication with the Thoroughbred Club, urging them to adopt a similar policy at their concerts.
Contact staff writer Ruth Marvin Webster at (760) 901-4074 or rwebster@nctimes.com.
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Ask wrote on Oct 18, 2008 3:16 PM:Why not ban beer and liquor sales?
How many people are harmed by their rude and obnoxious behavior? How many people are killed by them driving home drunk?
Sure is such a great county we live in. No fun, no where, now how.
Flatus wrote on Oct 18, 2008 4:05 PM:I have heard that they want to pass another law regarding passing gas at the fair. It will help ease global warming, quell some air pollution, and save all from the inhalation of personal gasses.
S. Rockwell wrote on Oct 18, 2008 6:31 PM:Tobacco should be banned in all public places, but marijuana use should not be used to help support that. Marijuana is nothing compared to tobacco and should be legal before tobacco. Especially here in California where we fully support the use of Medical Marijuana. This country needs to get it's priority's straight and fight against the true poisons. If Marijuana was legal and tobacco outlawed this country's alcohol and drug use would drop dramatically. And That is the truth!
how bout this wrote on Oct 18, 2008 8:52 PM:I read in Amsterdam you can smoke weed in the street but not tobacco cigarettes as those are banned. love it...
Another one wrote on Oct 18, 2008 9:35 PM:bites the dust. As a smoker who still smokes quite freely at (amongst other places), Disneyland, the Zoo, Wild Animal Park, Balboa Park, the beach and the Q -- all smokers will do is palm their smokes, as they do at so many other venues where smoking is "restricted". I am however, in full favor of a total ban on the consumption of alcohol -- in fact a return to prohibition would suit me just fine -- not too many smokers have killed innocents on the highway, caused endless acts of violence and ruined lives.
Umm.. wrote on Oct 18, 2008 9:45 PM:Only the rasta concerts? There was even pot at Weird Al.. I wonder if they will actually enforce it, unlike NCTD..
Socialism..one law at a time wrote on Oct 19, 2008 1:03 AM:IN the name of safety we are getting our rights taken away one at a time. Cigarette smoke is nothing more than an unpleasant smell when smoking outdoors. Give me a freekin break. Can cigarette smoke really cause that many health problems when super diluted in the air?? Also, why does there seem to be more and more birth defects (autism, ADD, ADHD etc.) even though we are bubble wrapping our children now more than ever??? Perhaps trying to raise your children in a "Perfect" and "Germ Free" environment isnt giving the natural order of immunities to form. Just my .02
Lets Police Everyone wrote on Oct 19, 2008 4:16 AM:Everyone knows people smoke pot at concerts, so don't take your kids. The fair does get rowdy at night, so don't take your kids at night. These days parents are taking their kids everywhere because they can't afford a sitter and they want to go. Fine, but beware that if you take your child to an "adult" event, be prepared for them to be exposed to adult behavior. The beer gardens used to be a closed area, I am sure they will be next year.
Johny On The Spot wrote on Oct 19, 2008 6:38 AM:Well, the Del Mar Fair and other events have just lost another customer. I am sick and tired of being told that the nearest smoking area is a half mile away when I attend these events.
Those people seem to forget that fully 25 percent of people STILL smoke. So they make laws and restrictions that fail to treat smokers with any fairness.
This anti-smoking thing has gone too far. Smokers are now fined at public beaches and parks, including anywhere in Balboa Park and the zoo. This is ridiculous.
I do not mind the no smoking zones, but when they tell me there is simply NO smoking areas anywhere, not only is that not fair, but it is beyond discriminatory.
So I will add another place that I used to go and spend my hard earned money to the DO NOT GO list. No longer do I go to any beach area that bans smoking. No longer will I go to any park in Oceanside or San Diego because of their policies. Now I will no longer go to the Del Mar Fair or any events held there.
When these people see that 25 percent of the people simply stop going and spending money, maybe they will reconsider their total ban for smokers.
Meanwhile those people will not see a dime of my money.
Now if they could only wrote on Oct 19, 2008 8:44 AM:If they could only get people who smoke to keep the cigarette inside the vehicle instead of hanging their arm out the window... A smoking on public roadways would be nice.
"Johny on the Spot," if people stop going to the Fair simply because they can't smoke that would be a first. It's just like how smokers' said they would stop patronizing restaurants and bars. It didn't happen.
If they want to stop something, they should stop smoking. It will save them considerable discretionary money, save other people from the harmful chemicals in cigarettes, and prevent fires.
Give me AIR wrote on Oct 19, 2008 9:34 AM:I have breathing prombles and I have my attorney filing suit against the fair for the open barbques they allow to endanger people's health.
Ill Volunteer My Place wrote on Oct 19, 2008 10:31 AM:If Ziggy needs a place to play, he can come to my house! I'll throw the biggest party the neighborhood has ever seen, and people can just enjoy it however they want! Come one Ziggy, we'll support you!
Seriously, no one has ever been hurt one bit by somebody smoking a little pot at a concert. It's been going on for years, and one up tight parent shows up and it's like people are being murdered or something.
As for drinking at the fair, I made a quest last year of finding every bar there. It was a blast! Please don't kill everyone else's fun just because a few don't enjoy things others do.
Some people just have too much time on their hands I guess.
Michelle wrote on Oct 19, 2008 11:29 AM:The woman who started all of this said she was upset when she tool her son to a concert and saw pot smoling. She said her son shouldn't be exposed to it.
Well, she did it. Now her son won't be allowed to go to a concert there until he is 21 and once he reaches 21 he will be patted down. Great!!
Come on now wrote on Oct 19, 2008 11:40 AM:25% of people smoke? Not in San Diego. Jersey maybe, but we're a bit brighter than those folks in the other coast.
Where I work, it's less than 5%. Granted I work this some pretty bright folks, so you draw your own conclusions there.
If you take away the Marlboros from the fair, who will run all the rides?
In conclusion, it's 2008. If you're still smoking cigs, you're a dope. (and you smell really, really bad too. Not the smoke, but YOU smell). I see this as an ordinance to get rid of stinky people.
The fair wrote on Oct 19, 2008 12:05 PM:needs to ban all automobile traffic within a ten mile radius. We do not need to breath cancer causing chemicals. Write your lawmaker demand they make another law for the previously free Amerikans!
What wrote on Oct 19, 2008 4:12 PM:San Diego County, California - the crystal-meth capital of the world and you are concerned about cigarette smoke. Have you ever heard the term "you have your priorities mixed up"?
HA wrote on Oct 19, 2008 7:34 PM:It's true. Smokers, your friends won't tell you, but if smoke (especially Marlboros) you smell you like you just dropped a deuce in your drawers. Honestly, you stink. You make the elevators smell, and if you work in a cube, everyone one around smells you 1/2 hour after you've left for lunch.
Single guys. If you still smoke, 90% of the ladies out there won't have anything to do with you. Well, unless you move to upstate New York.
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