The American Lung Association may have to call Monterey County's parents.
ALA's 2009 State of Tobacco Control report card, released Jan. 12, gives F's to every city in Monterey County except Salinas, which along with the unincorporated county squeaked by with a D grade.
There were a few redeeming factors. The cities of Carmel-by-the-Sea, Gonzales, Monterey, Pacific Grove and Sand City got a few points for designating smoke-free recreation areas. The unincorporated county scored for a smoke-free service area. Salinas and the county had nonsmoking common areas in their housing developments.
But that's about it. No jurisdictions got any points for reducing sales of tobacco products, and the majority of scores in the smokefree housing and smokefree outdoor air categories were zeroes.
In October, the city of Monterey delayed a discussion about a possible smoking ban in city parks and on the Recreation Trail.
Monterey County isn't alone with is poor grades. Of the 10 most populated cities in the state, the highest grade went to Oakland, with a B, but San Jose and San Diego flopped with D's, while Fresno and Anaheim failed.
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