The Marion County Board of Commissioners voted 2-1 on Wednesday to ban smoking on all county property including parks, parking lots and the areas around county offices, while also moving to expand the list of what is banned and phasing out designated smoking areas in the county. The move comes both to increase health in the county and provide consistency between state lands and county land. Oregon banned tobacco use on state property in January 2013. While cigarettes and electronic cigarettes had been banned from being used on Marion County property prior to the meeting, today’s vote adds cigars, chewing tobacco, pipe tobacco and dissolvable tobacco to the list of prohibited items. Designated smoking areas will be phased out in the coming months, with some being eliminated this summer and others, including ones at the jail, public works and juvenile corrections facility slated to go away in June 2016. The fine for violating the ban is $100, though the county commissioners could change that in the future. The Statesman Journal was the first to report the board’s vote. Marion County is home to approximately 325,000 residents, with Salem its county seat and largest city.
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