Grandwood Park Park District state’s first tobacco-free district

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Updated: March 26, 2012 1:58AM

The Grandwood Park Park District is now tobacco and smoke-free, becoming the first park district in Illinois to do so.

The district joins one other park district in Illinois, the Round Lake Area Park District, with a tobacco-free policy — with the exception of its golf course.

Several Lake County communities that have already made their parks smoke-free include Beach Park, Buffalo Grove, Deerfield, Lake Bluff, Lake Forest, Libertyville, Lindenhurst, Hawthorn Woods, Highland Park, Vernon Hills and Zion.

Park district commissioners adopted the policy of making all property and vehicles tobacco free earlier this month. Teens in the Lake County chapter of REALITY Illinois, a tobacco prevention group, played a role in the district’s decision.

Last November, the group presented information on tobacco-free parks to the park board, including the benefits of tobacco-free parks for the environment, the community and overall public health. They also presented survey data they collected from more than 1,200 Lake County residents and 150 residents in the Grandwood Park ZIP code. Survey results showed that 84 percent of residents support tobacco-free parks.

“We are excited that the park district decided to go tobacco-free and smoke-free because these are two different things,” said REALITY Illinois member Anna Heinrich, 17, of Gurnee. “It makes sense to do this because tobacco-free policies include chewing tobacco and related litter which harm the environment, damage the health of smokers and non-smokers, and set a bad example for the community. In addition, by state law all public school grounds are already tobacco-free so making public parks tobacco-free reduces confusion about what the rules are in which parks.”

In the new policy, commissioners said smoking and/or tobacco use of any kind will be banned on district property or in any district vehicle.

“This is great news,” said Barbara de Nekker of the Tobacco Free Lake County program of the Lake County Health Department, “Tobacco companies are manufacturing new smokeless, dissolvable tobacco products that look just like candy. But because of this new policy, children won’t see them in Grandwood Park Park District. By passing such a strong policy, Grandwood Park Park District is showing a genuine commitment to the health of their community, their youth, and the environment.”

The Lake County chapter of REALITY Illinois is coordinated by the Tobacco Free Lake County program at the Lake County Health Department and is funded by the Illinois Department of Public Health.