Let me begin by saying that I grew up with severe asthma and I am allergic to cigarette smoke.
Is the beach smoking ban about cigarette butts as litter or second hand smoke, or both?
If it's about litter then the ban won't be affective because the vast majority of the cigarette butts come from runoff from the streets and teenagers smoking at the beach after hours.
How many hours of manpower do our public works employees put into picking up cigarette butts off our beaches?
If it's about second hand smoke then we should consider a ban, even in an outdoor setting.
Should we have a complete ban on smoking at the beach, or have some smoking/non-smoking areas? For example, we don't want smoking at the Moonlight Beach Tot Lot but maybe it's okay if people smoke at the benches overlooking Moonlight Beach at the upper parking lot?
Surfing is blackballed between the two lifeguard towers during the summer and is for swimmers only. Should this be the non-smoking area and the beaches north or south allow smoking?
Who is smoking at the beach? The only people I see smoking are the young surfers in the parking lots. It used to be that NO surfers ever smoked cigarettes, but the next generation seems to be embracing it. This is wild because they are the generation that was targeted by unprecedented millions of dollars in anti-smoking education. I guess they are rebelling against that message.
The fire rings are extremely popular at Moonlight Beach, is there a health risk from the smoke from these fires? Is it less or worse than second hand smoke from the occasional cigarette?
What is the fine line between taking away the personal freedoms of a smoker out in public as opposed to my freedom to not breathe in crappy smoke that was already in somebody's gunky lungs?
Does the snack stand at Moonlight Beach sell cigarettes?
Speaking of air pollution, the coast highway is getting busier and busier every summer. What effect is thousands and thousands of idling cars having on our local air quality?
What would happen if a leashless dog smoking a cigarette and drinking a beer out of a glass bottle was riding a horse at the beach???
See also:
Jerome Stocks op-ed in SDUT: Let Encinitas citizens decide smoking ban
Encinitas councilman wants beach smoking ban on ballot
Leucadia Blog: UNION-TRIBUNE EDITORIALS
SDUT story: Smoking debate resurfaces
Letters from Encinitas council persons Houlihan and Barth in Union Tribune. (scroll down)
CigaretteLitter.org
great one JP-
ReplyDeleteI heard second hand cigarette smoke is poisoness to kelp and breeds cobbles.
even though smoking is disgusting, it's a little fascist to not let people smoke outside.
ReplyDeleteif I wrote the laws, there would be a non-smoking section near beach accesses and smoking ok everywhere else. I mean, can they really enforce a smoking ban half way between the public accesses? No one who knows of the ban will keep puffing away as the lifeguard truck slowly drives up from a mile away.
A more sensible approach is to just torture people who litter. One dropped butt = one finger nail pulled out with pliers. The punishment fits the crime.
We should waste a lot of time on this issue and be distracted from important things.
ReplyDeleteGet rid of the fire rings at Moonlight and the campground. They pollute our air a lot worse than some punk with a ciggy!
ReplyDeleteIs that Ms. Chong?
ReplyDeleteAm I allowed to smoke medicinal marijuana at the beach, with or without the smoking ban??
ReplyDeleteMMMMMMMMM snack shack
ReplyDeleteIf you remove the fire rings I will kick your ass.
ReplyDeleteWhat would happen if a leashless dog smoking a cigarette and drinking a beer out of a glass bottle was riding a horse at the beach???
ReplyDeleteFriggen hysterical!
Because all smoke is bad smoke, we should outlaw grilling food, fire pits, smoking, burning leaves and any activity that may possibly affect ANYONE in a negative manner, no matter how ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteHey! Let's ban fat men in Speedos! They're offensively fugly. Surfwax pollutes our beaches too. Let's ban surfwax, an oil-based product!! Surfboards are made from petroleum products, too. Let's say no to foreign oil -- ban urethane Surfboards!!! and wetsuits!
Heil Hitler!!!!
Fascism is here to stay, courtesy of political correctness run amok.
A runner on PCH bumped into me once. I could have been injured! BAN RUNNING!
Bicycles are dangerous. Ban 'em!
Donuts are bad for your health. Down with Leucadia Donuts! Donuts kill! Do it for the CHILDREN, I beg you! Ban all junk food, NOW!
Enforce good nutrition.
Eating one Twinkie should get you 90 days in jail, minimum. That'll teach you to enjoy yourself at the expense of the rest of us who will be forced to pay higher health premiums so YOU can have a triple bypass. Think of your fellow man, you selfish corpulent Twinkie-gobbler.
GUILTY! Send the fat Twinkie eater to the Gulag!
Next, we'll go after reclining chairs...
See how much fun Fascism can be?