90.1 FM San Luis Obispo | 91.7 FM Paso Robles | 91.1 FM Cayucos | 95.1 FM Lompoc | 90.9 FM Avila
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Several Central Coast cities receive 'F' grades from American Lung Association

Flickr member: Fried Dough

The latest annual report from the American Lung Association shows smoking on the Central Coast is still a problem in many communities.

The report gives mixed grades for Monterey, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties. Not a single city got an "A" grade, but Carpinteria and San Luis Obispo got B grades, as did unincorporated Santa Barbara County.

Vanessa Marvin is a senior director with the Lung Association and says there's still a lot of work to be done by many of the other the area's other communities.

"Well there's quite a few cities along the Central Coast in all three counties who are getting F grades," said Marvin. "Those are really cities that we think that the city councils and boards of supervisors need to step up to the plate and pass some strong policies to protect their residents."

The cities receiving an F grade include:

  • Monterey County: Del Rey Oaks, Gonzalez, Greenfield, King City, Marina, Pacific Grove, Sand City, Seaside, and Soledad.
  • San Luis Obispo County: Atascadero, Paso Robles, and Pismo Beach
  • Santa Barbara County: Guadalupe, Lompoc, Santa Maria, and Solvang.

Grades are based on access to smoke-free options for outdoor air and housing, and the sales of tobacco products.
According to the most recent California Student Tobacco Survey (CSTS - 2010) the smoking rate among youth in the Santa Barbara/San Luis Obispo/Monterey region is 13.8 percent, which is the same as the state youth smoking rate.