and at the plaza. 80 percent of those people were bothered by second-hand smoke as well as being aware of the fact that second-hand smoke is harmful. the gay community, they wanted to free them to breathe air without the second-hand smoke from cigarettes in cigars. thank you. >> supervisors, we do not need ordinances like this that will not only be applied by some representatives that want to do something without paying

attention to the sentiments of seven siskins -- san fran ciscans. san franciscans are very astute. such things are irritating. this type of ordnance is irritating. many people did not have the opportunity to meet harvey milk. the man was open minded, a man could sit them with you and have a dialogue.

it is in this spirit that we do not represent -- appreciate representatives controlling our lives. that is all i've got to say. you'll be hearing from others in the audience. please pay attention. we don't want you to think for us. gosh i wanted add to today's discussion on a more personal note.

my right lung is better for all intents and purposes. it gets hard to breathe, i can't catch my breath, and if you have never been a situation where you can't get enough air, who know what i mean. we kind of laugh at the commercials on television when they talk about an elephant sitting on somebody's chest. that is true. no one is trying to take away anybody's rights. of believe that everybody has the right to do what they want to do with their body, but they

don't have the right to take me down with them. i want to be able to come out of muni and not be confronted with someone lighting a cigarette and tell me that they have the right to smoke. they do have the right to smoke, but i have the right to breathe. i just want to finish at advice in that a lot of people think that there is car exhaust and that is causing more harm than secondhand smoke. but the studies demonstrate that cigarette smoke produces more small particles than diesel engines manufactured since the 1990's. it is a major factor in developing lung cancer. [chime] >> i am here to talk about

tobacco use. the community as much as twice as much as the general population that tobacco kills more people in the u.s. that aids, alcohol, illegal drugs, suicide, murder, and traffic accidents combined. these facts alone should give us cause to figure out where our priorities are. a major statewide study in 2004 determined that gay and bisexual men smoke about 50% more that all men. lesbian bisexual women smoke three times the rate of all women. transgendered members smoked twice as much as everyone else, and clear young adults -- queer young adults smoke 2.5 times more than their age. it is an epidemic in our community and we will do something about it.

it uses the desire for freedom and equality to manipulate us to buy more cigarettes. one cigarette advocates compared the freedom to marry with the freedom to inhale. what message does a smoker struggling to break free get from that and other similar habits? tobacco companies know we smoke at a higher rate and we need to fight back. snow-free outdoor spaces will improve the health of our community. supervisor wiener: one of the call a few more names? [reading names]

>> my name is brian davis, and i am the project director of the freedom for tobacco. what it has done and continues to do to us, i am also a community activist, and i have serious asthma. when i go to a marriage rally to speak about a damage to a phobia and library cigarette smoke, i can't agree. as previous speakers have said, lgbt people smoke twice as much, and the big tobacco specifically targets us to smoke

more. the ad agency told the company that the gay community was an area of opportunity. the members deserve to be spoken to personally in their own environment similar to the way we are using black, hispanic, and female publications. soon after, they began to appear more and more. but what do tobacco companies think of us? to get an idea about that, we can look at a marketing plan developed by reynolds specifically aimed to sell cigarettes to keep people and homeless people. it was project scum "sub culture urban market." bu but we know what scum means, don't we? it will help fight back against

homophobia. supervisor mar: a number of issues have come up around the health code and anti-smut and policies. i was part of a coalition with others from the community that fought for a stronger protections against second-hand smoke, but i know a number of people have already raised this. i know smoking is for habited in the health code as a pretty broad in how it is preventing smoking on property under the jurisdiction of the city. can you comment on that? >> you are correct that the health code addresses smoking in park and recreational areas. the health code does not apply to this property because it calls the weather is a park, square, garden for a farmer's

market. and these don't fall within what is already prohibited under the health code. >> i am a senior research scientist get the institute for research and evaluation. i am here today to talk about hot smoke free outdoor spaces. smoking cigarettes is an addiction. the tobacco industry manipulates nicotine levels to hook people. 70% of smokers want to quit. when more areas are declared a smoke-free, more smokers quit. second-hand smoke and outdoor areas may be irritating, but it is also toxic. there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke, and people that are exposed are

at risk of developing the same illnesses as smokers, including lung cancer, heart disease, end of month. -- and asthma. and her example, a 2007 study from the waste management association by a stanford research team demonstrated that a non-smoker compared to someone smoking two cigarettes over an hour outdoors is exposed to roughly the same amount of secondhand smoke as one hour inside. the smoke dissipates rapidly when it is windy, but the plaza in question is also a densely populated. an hiv-positive people that smoke or exposed are greater risk of developing opportunistic diseases that lead to aids and other diseases caused by smoking.

patients get a higher risk of heart disease with secondhand smoke. supervisor wiener: thank you. >> good afternoon. i'm with the housing rights committee and queers for economic equality now. i want to present to you a letter that has nearly 200 signatures of people that are opposed to this legislation, mostly people that cannot come to this hearing themselves but wanted to make their feelings known. i would like to address one piece of this. what i see is one of the rally- the facts -- really negative effects, this is something that

people don't often think about when they are proposing legislation like this. if someone who is for or homeless gets excited underneath this, i assume that the targets will be people that are actually homeless or poor. they don't pay the fine, it turns into a bench warrant and possibly jail time. the person goes to apply for housing for one of the providers and that housing project turns them down because they have a criminal background. they come into my office, this has happened many times, and my colleagues spend a lot of time advocating with the provider, asking for a grievance hearing, and what happens? there is a negative impact of legislation like this. it increases homelessness and the amount of time a homeless

person spends our streets. i am sure nobody here wants that. please, reject this legislation. it will only cause more problems for people that are homeless in san francisco. [applause] supervisor mar: please, we're going to be here all night if people cheer after speakers. restrain yourselves if you can. >> i'm here today to urge you to oppose this legislation. i agree with you the public space should be accessible to everyone. i think the legislation specifically targeted group of people, homeless people, that are already marginalized by sit- lie. they face significant barriers to being able to participate in society.

harvey milk fought for a city where we could gather, protest, said together, saying without fear of police harassment. i think if he was here today, he would absolutely oppose any attempts to regulate people using the plaza. i urge you to oppose this legislation, thank you. >> i have been a resident and i alone the castro walking tours. many of us agree that we would like a safe environment, and the environment that is also sanitary. the situation that i agree with a lot of people is the smoking, and it is not only encouraging

cigarette smoke, it is not limited to using intravenous drugs in broad daylight. these are safety issues, public health issues. i can give you a great example that two weeks ago i was meeting like to were -- my tour. because there were a large number of people smoke pot, crack and cigarrettes, i encourage them to rot was made to the flagpole or there was a young sh manooting up met -- young man shooting up meth. he took several minutes because he could not find his vein. this is something i deal with almost a daily basis.

i fear for other people, anyone in the community. it is a safety issue and a public health issue. i hope that we can work this out. >> good afternoon, supervisors. i am also a medical cannabis patient and a member of the task force as a patient advocate. the oldest and largest organization devoted to advocacy in behalf of the safe act for medical cannabis, i am speaking solely as an individual today. my husband and i have joined the

many at the plaza, using medical campus without any complaints. we are considerate of those around us and the deferred, medicating. we never do it in front of children. there are precious few places in the city where qualified medical cannabis patients can legally medicaid. many that live in subsidized housing cannot some of them their own homes. smoke from medical cannabis cannot affect second hand smoke or affect others as the doctor has repeatedly stated. canada smokers have a non-users.

moderate use of smoke cannabis, permit the use of smoke or vaporize cannabis at the plaza. supervisor wiener: can people move closer? i just want to note that the can of this issue was raised before, and i did look into it, particularly how we approach bans on smoking in public places. i was unable to find any other example where we ban smoking in public and exempted medical cannabis. i did look into it to see how we treated if.

it is consistent with what this legislation says. >> i am a 20-year resident of the castro, i wanted to speak in support, so much of what goes on in our community, particularly in the plaza is very good for the people in the plaza and the community. there are some things going on that hopefully will help regulate participants in that behavior. it is certainly a public safety issue depending on which time of day you were there. i wanted to thank god for his support. -- scott for his support. >> i'm andrea aello, executive

director of the upper community benefit district. the jane warner plaza, we're responsible for taking care of both plazas. i am here today to express strong support for the proposed ordinance to establish rules for the jade warner and harvey milk plazas. the castro cbd began meeting with merchants to began brainstorming solutions to some of the challenges. some of those challenges included drug dealing in the morning hours, cellphone getting stolen, trash and debris collected at a laugh from individuals sleeping and spending at 8-12 hours in the plaza.

meetings were held, and we began work supervisor wiener: in wiinr to bring the existing in standard rules in place to apply. the proposed legislation simply a sign existing park and wreck codes to both the jane warner plaza and milk plazas. posted hours will help of volunteers tremendously. protests, political campaigning, commercial endeavors and entertainment will all be allowed. it is a point to remember that both of these are a mixed use neighborhoods. people live immediately adjacent to both pluses. they identified it as keeping it

clean and safe. [chime] supervisor mar: which business brings the chairs at the end of the meeting? >> they don't bring the men, they are locked up. there isto lock them up, it is really unusual. every other place that as a public space is a restaurant and responsible for tables and chairs. they bring them inside and we don't have any place to bring the men. we bought them, and the 24-hour restaurant. the last three years, they have been locking up the tables and chairs. that responsibility was shifted, people are sharing the responsibility. there will be sign-ins' that says chairs get locked out,

people are drunk even at 9:00. we are allowed, we are supposed to be locking those things up. >> the movable tables and chairs? >> the cbd put them in. ]8f=ñthere will always be open . supervisor wiener: could everyone make sure that whatever height you are, adjust the microphones to that you're speaking directly into it. >> i am a 40-year resident of the castro.

i am here to support the legislation today and live like to thank scott for his support. i think there is nothing wrong with having structure in place. under this umbrella, that is all i have to say. supervisor wiener: you own orphan annies? >> right in the middle. supervisor wiener: i want to thank you for the unending hours you have put into helping maintain, clean, taking the chairs, you guys have been tremendous. next speaker. >> my name is allison, i am a resident of the castro. i actually live closest to the

benches than anybody in this whole room. firsthand experience here. i support the legislation because i feel there should be some rules to be had there. i am a reasonable person, i work full time and pay my mortgage on time and abide by rules every day of my life. there are really no rules there. i think that we need some, and probably, because of the conditions out there right now, i would like to see some strict ones. i will take what i can get. it is really sort of an unsanitary area. to and fro my house, it is gratly affe -- greatly affected. the noise from people late at

night, partying, trashing the place, we put up with a lot. we have acclimated to so much. and i don't think they were designated for partying all night long and screaming and yelling and li endttering. -- and littering. i would like to see them used and clean for people to use them, it is just a magnet for drugs, alcohol, skateboarders, things that get -- i don't know. anyway. so i also think that -- [chime] supervisor wiener: thank you for coming down today.

next speaker. >> hi. supervisor wiener: hold on one second. now you can go. the microphone is on. >> i go to harvey milk academy and i don't htink -- think harvey milk would like this and if he doesn't like it, we should not either. [applause] supervisor wiener: thank you. >> i did not write that. my name is jennifer, and the director of the coalition on homelessness. i wish i could say i was happy to be here today, but i am really not. i am deeply saddened to go down

the same a very tired, very difficult and very hurtful road. we have a huge crisis around homelessness and we have had it for three decades. during that time, since localities haven't been able to address it in a substantive way, how they are resorting to these kinds of things. there are hundreds of laws and dozens that are being applied against thomas people today. they are being applied against homeless people on streets and on sidewalks, in plazas, like jane warner plaza. like u.n. plaza. the impact on homeless people has been devastating. at a time this kind of legislation moves forward, it stirs up anti-homeless sentiment.