In case you didn’t know it, Santa Barbara is now a smoke-free city.

The City Council in June passed an ordinance that bans outdoor smoking. And even if you are smoking inside your car, in a city parking lot, it’s still banned.

Smoking is now prohibited at beaches, parks, sports fields, open spaces, trails, sidewalks and paseos in commercial and private residential areas.

Smoking is also banned in city parking structures and lots and Stearns Wharf.

In addition, no smoking is allowed on outdoor restaurant patios before 10 p.m.

“Cigarette butts are a pervasive form of litter in the city of Santa Barbara, on its streets and in its parks, beaches and waterways,” the city’s ordinance states. “Cigarette butts contain carcinogenic bits of non-biodegradable cellulose acetate, which are toxic to wildlife and pose a risk to human health.”

The new law applies to tobacco, electronic vaping and marijuana, which will be legal for recreational use on Jan. 1, 2018.

The city, for now, isn’t planning a firm crackdown on those who do break the law, however, the city will use verbal warnings and public education as the primary means of law enforcement.

Smoking is still allowed inside your private home, except when also used as a child care, health care, board care, or foster care facility.

It’s also still legal on private boats, in designated hotel rooms and for registered golfers from the first tee box to the 18th green on fairways, rough, playing greens, hazard areas, and golf cart pathways, at the city’s Santa Barbara Golf Club.

The city’s ordinance states that second-hand smoke is a carcinogen, of which there is no safe level of exposure.

— Noozhawk staff writer Joshua Molina can be reached at jmolina@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.