CHICAGO, July 1 (UPI) -- A law that went into effect Friday in San Francisco bans smoking in many of the city's outdoor facilities, including parks and recreation areas.
The San Francisco measure, initiated by city and county Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier after she participated in a park cleanup and picked up more cigarette butts than anything else, is one of the most far-reaching in the country but it is also part of a trend to limit smoking and exposure to second-hand smoke.
Eight states ban smoking in workplaces -- including restaurants and bars -- and six others states order restaurants to be smoke free, ABC News reports, adding many other local jurisdictions limit where people can smoke. Many new bans went into effect Friday.
Chicago aldermen this week introduced a bill that would ban smoking in most of the city's public places, including train platforms.
Restaurant and bar owners have complained such bans hurt them severely in the pocketbook, but ABC said it's hard to measure the economic impact of the bans.
