Baltimore Mayor Scott Signs Law Prohibiting All Tobacco Use in City Stadiums
Oriole Park at Camden Yards becomes 17th MLB stadium with completely tobacco-free policy
Baltimore, MD – Today, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott signed into law legislation that prohibits all tobacco use – including use of smokeless tobacco products – in Baltimore City stadiums, including Oriole Park at Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium. The measure, sponsored by Councilman Kristerfer Burnett and unanimously approved by the City Council last month, is aimed at ending the longstanding link between baseball and smokeless tobacco and preventing youth use of harmful and addictive tobacco products, especially by student athletes who imitate their role models on and off the field.
"Congratulations and thank you to Mayor Scott, Councilman Burnett and the entire City Council for helping protect kids’ health and promoting tobacco-free lifestyles,” said John Bowman, Executive Vice President for U.S. Programs at the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. “As we approach Opening Day, Baltimore is sending a clear message that our national pastime should promote a healthy and active lifestyle, not a deadly and addictive product."
With the addition of Baltimore, 17 of 30 Major League Baseball stadiums will now be completely tobacco-free. Learn more about the Knock Tobacco Out of the Park campaign and see which MLB stadiums are tobacco-free.
The Baltimore ordinance passed unanimously with eight members of the City Council co-sponsoring Burnett’s legislation: Councilmember Phylicia Porter, Councilmember Zeke Cohen, Councilmember Ryan Dorsey, Councilmember Sharon Green Middleton, Councilmember James Torrence, Councilmember John Bullock and Councilmember Odette Ramos.
The Maryland State Conference of the NAACP, public health professionals from Johns Hopkins University, and a strong coalition of public health advocates including the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Action Network, the American Heart Association and the American Lung Association, supported the ordinance.
The Knock Tobacco Out of the Park campaign, a coalition of public health and medical organizations, has advocated for tobacco-free baseball.