Copyright M Live Michigan
Detroit’s sports stadiums and arenas will no longer allow smokeless tobacco products. The Detroit City Council adopted an ordinance Tuesday, Oct. 21, making Comerica Park, Ford Field, and Little Caesars Arena completely tobacco-free. The ban adds products like nicotine pouches to the prohibited products list, which already included cigarettes and vapes/e-cigarettes. The ordinance passed by a 7-2 vote and will take immediate effect. Opposing the change were councilmembers Gabriela Santiago-Romero and Coleman Young II. Violations of the policy will first be met with a warning, officials said. Continued violations or failure to stop could result in a fine up to $500. Councilman Fred Durhal III sponsored the amendment. He said the rule change was an effort to prioritize kids’ health by eliminating a negative influence commonly associated with baseball. “Often times the players themselves use smokeless tobacco, chew, spit, whatever they call it,” Durhal said. “We had the opportunity to engage with young folks in our high schools who play baseball who stated upon the conversations we had with them, that they thought that’s a regular part of the game.” Related: Detroit airport considers opening indoor smoke lounge Young said adults should be able to make their own health decisions when they’re not hurting anyone else. Unlike smoking, chewing tobacco and nicotine pouches don’t have a secondhand effect on others. Santiago-Romero questioned the ability to enforce the ordinance, given that people already get away with vaping inside stadiums despite an existing ban on those products. Detroit’s policy change follows a growing trend throughout Major League Baseball. Comerica Park becomes the 18th of 30 MLB stadiums to go completely tobacco-free, according to the Washington D.C.-based nonprofit Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. The smokeless tobacco ban was introduced Oct. 7. The change affects Chapter 31 of the Detroit City Code, specifically referencing a ban on “smokeless tobacco products, alternate nicotine products and other tobacco products.” Durhal said he spoke with groups from around the country, including baseball players and children, before proposing the change. “This is not going to prevent folks in their homes or cars to stop chewing tobacco,” he said. “But in public places with children’s eyes on them, we want to ensure you’ll participate in healthy behaviors in the city of Detroit.” Supporters of the smokeless tobacco ban said it protects the health of kids by promoting tobacco-free lifestyles. Among the groups in favor of the ban were the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, and the Detroit Wayne Oakland Tobacco-Free Coalition. Following Tuesday’s vote by the council, Councilwoman Angela Whitfield-Calloway asked city staff to look into the potential to ban vaping on city property by city employees. She referenced occasions seeing city employees smoking outside police and fire stations. City Council President Pro Tem James Tate said there’s already such a ban on smoking marijuana on city property, but the council could consider amending the city code to include tobacco.
