GUADALUPE, ARIZONA
No Puffing in Guadalupe, Arizona (May 16, 2002)

Town ordinance rains on smoking parade in indoor public
areas

Guadalupe council members say they've done all they could
to nearly extinguish indoor smoking in their town. Now,
Cruzita Armenta says she hopes to reach homes, the one
indoor place where smokers can still light up. Armenta and
health workers at her social service agency have visited
about 500 families in Guadalupe since 1997, warning of the
dangers of secondhand smoke. Many residents now step
outside their homes, and Armenta is confident that the
public smoking ordinance will persuade other smokers to
end the habit in their homes.

"It is going to be like an awareness especially for the health
of their children and themselves," said Armenta, health
coordinator at the town's Centro de Amistad. It took less
time for the council to unanimously pass the public smoking
ordinance last week than to light up and inhale.

Tempe council member Dennis Cahill, who attended the
Guadalupe meeting, said the new ordinance is among the
strictest that he has ever seen. "There are no loop-holes, no
special circumstances," Cahill said. "Plain and simply any
indoor public space has to be smoke free."

There was no protest from residents who packed the
meeting and applauded the council's vote. The ordinance will
take effect in 90 days, Town Manager Tom Morales said.
Notices of the proposed ordinance were sent to businesses
and none responded, Morales said. There are about 50
businesses in the town of 5,500 residents.

By Peter Ortiz
The Arizona Republic
May 16, 2002
peter.ortiz@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-7726.

DOCUMENT DOWNLOADS
Dear MASCOT: Here's a copy of the new Guadalupe, AZ clean
indoor air ordinance. This copy was sent to me by an
employee of the Maricopa County, AZ health department.
Guadalupe is in Maricopa County.
Download Final Legislation (44k) PDF document

MASCOT thanks Karen Zielaski, Project Manager, Arizona
Tobacco Policy & Advocacy, for providing the Guadalupe
legislation.