Schenectady

After she climbed up the front steps to enter City Hall on Monday, Theresa Zubretsky said she counted 50 cigarette butts discarded on the main staircase to the seat of government.

The number may soon dwindle to little or none because the city is considering expanding its smoking ban to include the perimeter around all municipal buildings, including City Hall and the Public Works building, Councilwoman Marion Porterfield said. At present, smoking and tobacco use are prohibited in parks in the city.

Earlier this week, Zubretsky, who works with the Capital District Tobacco-Free Coalition, made a presentation to City Council members. She told them that while smoking is at an all-time low for teens and adults, people with mental health problems and the less educated are "smoking more, spending more, and dying more."

The problem is especially bad in Schenectady, where a survey from 2012 revealed that 37 percent of adults use tobacco, which Zubretsky described as a shocking statistic considering it's more than double the rate in the state.

Zubretsky talked about the rising popularity of so-called Electric Nicotine Delivery System (ENDS), including electronic cigarettes or "e-cigs" and "vape sticks." She also mentioned that her organization and others, including the Public Health and Tobacco Policy Center, provide free services to communities that want to implement no smoking policies.

Porterfield, a Democrat from Hamilton Hill, noted just last week that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced plans to ban smoking in the nation's 1.2 million public housing units over the next several years.

"This is really the trend and it's an important health issue because of the cost to the health care system of tobacco-related illnesses," she said.

Porterfield said she and the other two members of the council's Health and Recreation Committee plan to meet soon with the law department to discuss the model language Zubretsky provided them with in hopes of drafting an ordinance that meets the city's needs. A public hearing would also have to be held and the proposal would have to pass muster from the full board.

pnelson@timesunion.com • 518-454-5347 • @apaulnelson