Jim Thorpe Borough is instituting a new initiative to try to keep its parks tobacco free.

Council on Thursday night approved the installation of signs through the state’s Young Lungs at Play program.

Borough Manager Maureen Sterner said the no tobacco provision is just a policy at this point, meaning council is not drafting an ordinance and attaching fines to it for violations.

“We decided we want to start it out this way and see if we can get everyone to comply with that policy,” Council President Greg Strubinger.

Sterner said the borough doesn’t necessarily have a large smoking issue in its parks, but that’s not to say signs wouldn’t help keep them clean.

“The other day I was walking through Memorial Park back to the police station and there was a lady sitting there watching her grandchild and smoking a cigarette,” Police Chief Joe Schatz said. “I politely asked her to put it out and she did, but I definitely think the signs will help get the message out that we don’t want that happening in the parks.”

The initiative is aimed at reducing youth and community members’ exposure to secondhand smoke, tobacco-related litter, and provide clean and healthy areas to play and exercise.

Exposure to secondhand smoke has been estimated to result in at least 38,000 annual deaths in the United States and over 1 million illnesses in children, according to the National Cancer Institute. Cigarettes, state officials added, are one of the most littered item in the world and the leading cause of fire in public spaces.

Borough officials said the state is providing the heavy-duty metal signs free of charge.