It's harder to smoke 'em if you got 'em in Pacific Grove, vaping included.

Last year the American Lung Association graded Pacific Grove with a D for smoke-free outdoor air and two Fs for smoke-free air in multi-unit housing and reducing the sales of tobacco products. The city is due to get all As from now on. It’s the first city in Monterey County to become a “smoke-free city,” after an ordinance passed by the Pacific Grove City Council became law at the end of January.

In addition to banning smoking in public outdoor spaces and multi-unit buildings, it also bans retailers from selling flavored tobacco products, including flavored vape products. It’s a bold step, especially in the face of the rising use of vape pens by high school students.

On Dec. 18, Pacific Grove Unified School District Superintendent Ralph Porras told the council that he had noticed a disturbing trend last fall: Over a 60-day period most suspensions were connected to using tobacco vaping-related products. “I’ve been in education for 30 years and I’ve seen a lot of trends,” Porras told the Weekly. “This one is insidious and it worries me a lot.” He said the problem extends to all schools in Monterey County.

The council responded to Porras’ concerns by passing the ordinance by a unanimous vote. It took effect 30 days later.

The new ordinance bans all smoking and vaping on roadways, sidewalks, walking trails, beaches and inside multi-unit buildings—including apartments, condominiums, senior and assisted living facilities and long-term care facilities—to protect other residents from second-hand smoke. The multi-unit ban includes inside units as well as outdoors on private balconies, porches, decks or patios.

There is some time before the ban on smoking and vaping goes into effect for multi-unit buildings. Any units built after the ordinance went into effect in January will be subject to the ban starting Oct. 1. Older units won’t have to comply until Oct. 1, 2021.

The ban does not extend to private single-family homes unless they’re used as a child care or healthcare facility, or single-family homes with a detached or attached accessory dwelling unit.

Out and about there’s no smoking anywhere the general public can be found, including all the places that have been outlawed in the past like parks, but now the ordinance specifies other areas as forbidden, like outdoor dining spaces, roadways, sidewalks, farmers markets and outdoor events.

With such a comprehensive list of places people can't smoke, where can they smoke?

It’s limited. People who want to smoke in single-family homes are not impacted, but don’t try smoking or vaping on the street.

Multi-unit building owners are allowed to designate a smoking area outside that’s at least 20 feet away in any direction from children’s playgrounds, tennis courts, swimming pools and school campuses. The smoking area must also be located 20 feet away from nonsmoking areas.

For those who remember the days before smoking was forbidden on school campuses when there were painted boxes around smoking areas, that’s what the ordinance forces owners to do, create a “clearly marked perimeter” and identify with signs.

The penalties for violating the ordinance range from $100 for a first infraction, up to $1,000 for misdemeanors. The severity of the penalty is decided by the prosecuting officer, City Attorney David Laredo says by email.

The Monterey County Tobacco Control Program worked with the city for over nine months to create the ordinance in the interest of protecting people's health.

The ordinance is also expected to cut down on the amount of tobacco- and vape-related litter throughout the city, especially along the shoreline. In October, three city volunteers who have been picking up cigarette butts and other litter for years—Lynn Mason, Susan Pierszalowski and Lila Selden—reported picking up over 30,000 butts over a 10-month period in 2019. They lobbied for the new ordinance.

"Our concerns are of the toxicity and contamination of cigarettes polluting drinking water, beaches, waterways and surrounding public areas," they wrote in an email. "Ninety-eight percent of cigarette filters are made of plastic fibers that are not readily biodegradable and break down to become microplastics. This leads to water, land and air pollution that are ingested by wildlife and affect the health of our community."

A new California law banning smoking on state beaches and in state parks went into effect Jan. 1. Last July, an extended ban on smoking, vaping and cannabis in Monterey County Parks and county buildings went into effect.