Sonoma city and county get high marks for limiting smoking

New laws regulating tobacco use earned the City of Sonoma and the unincorporated areas of Sonoma County top grades in an annual report released Wednesday by the American Lung Association.

The two were among just 21 cities and counties in California to earn an overall grade of A. The association’s review considered a community’s rules prohibiting smoking outdoors in public spaces and indoors in multifamily complexes, as well as laws requiring tobacco retailers to pay for special licenses.

Both the city of Sonoma and the county earned top grades “because both of those communities adopted really great policies this year,” said Lindsey Freitas, an association spokeswoman in Sacramento.

The city of Sonoma enacted laws that ban smoking in a number of outdoor spaces, including parks, bus stops and outdoor dining areas, she said. The City Council also prohibited smoking inside apartment and condominium complexes.

The county, meanwhile, enacted a law requiring all tobacco retailers, including sellers of electronic cigarette products, to obtain a special license. The Board of Supervisors prohibited tobacco sales in pharmacies and set limits on where retailers could locate, including their proximity to schools.

North of San Francisco, the only other communities to get an overall A grade were San Rafael, Mill Valley, Belvedere and the county of Marin.

Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, Healdsburg and Cotati all received Bs. Rohnert Park received a C, while Windsor got a D and Cloverdale an F, the lowest grade.

The association reported that the number of F grades it hands out is steadily declining. Nonetheless, more than half the state’s population “still live in communities scoring a D or F.”

At the state level, California received higher marks this year for raising the smoking age to 21 and for voter approval last fall of Proposition 56, which raised cigarette taxes by $2 a pack. Unlike cities and counties, states don’t receive an overall grade.

You can reach Staff Writer Robert Digitale at 707-521-5285 or robert.digitale@pressdemocrat.com.