The mayor of New York City just signed into a law a measure that bans all use of smokeless tobacco at sport venues. The ban which extends to Yankee Stadium and Citifield is also done by other cities in their efforts to discourage from making smoking a habit.
According to ESPN, New York mayor Bill de Blasio signed the ban at 5 p.m. and it immediately took effect during the game between Yankees and Houston Atros on Wednesday night. The law bans everyone in major league ballparks to use smokeless tobacco for a regular-season game.
De Blasio said "We don't want our young people to think smokeless tobacco is a cool thing." All sport venues and recreational areas are affected in the said law. He added "We are taking a huge step forward to ensure that our youth are not exposed to dangerous practices."
The ban also includes the usage of e-cigarettes inside the ballparks as written in CNN. New York would be the latest city to join San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Boston in banning dipping and chewing tobacco in sport venues. A similar ordinance has been introduced in Chicago and is expected to go into effect in June. It is notably known that San Francisco is the first city to create such law back in May 2015. Meanwhile, a statewide ban in California is expected to take effect in 2017.
J Post reported that when professional baseball emerged in America during the 19th century, chewing tobacco became a major custom to players and now, the habits remain widespread. The Major League Baseball Players Association took an action in 1993 to ban the use of chewed tobacco in minor leagues but it allowed the major leagues to do it.
The issue took a deliberate urgency after Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn died of salivary gland cancer last 2014. Gwynn pointed out that his cancer was due to chewing tobacco.
