The city council finds that the smoking of tobacco, or any other weed or plant, is a positive danger to health and a material annoyance, inconvenience, discomfort and a health hazard to those who are present in confined spaces, and that smoking rates are on the increase among the youth population of Kern County. In addition, the U.S. Surgeon General and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have concluded that second-hand smoke causes lung cancer and heart disease in healthy non-smokers. In order to promote public health, safety and welfare, the declared purposes of this chapter are to prohibit the smoking of tobacco, or any weed or plant, in public places and places of employment, to protect the public health by restricting public exposure to second-hand smoke, and to restrict youth access to tobacco products, as stated and required in this chapter. (Ord. 4017 § 1, 2001)