No smoking activists hit the beach:
Ten years after California set a national precedent by banning smoking in restaurants and bars – and months after prohibiting it within feet of government buildings and playgrounds – many of the state’s coastal cities are now banning smoking at the beach.
Health and environmental officials say the moves are a logical extension of smoking bans in other public places and are necessary to meet state and federal antipollution requirements.
Some legislators, however, fear the government is prying too far into private lives, with unnecessary and overly puritanical dictums.
Smoking is a very unhealthy practice and I support most of the public bans on indoor smoking. But this does seem to be overkill. Particularly if, as the article claims, only 17% of Californians smoke. I don’t see the danger from second-hand smoke in an open air environment like the beach is what some people are making it out to be–one great enough to warrant the government intrusion on private conduct. But, based on the beaches I’ve seen, the litter issue the smoke-free advocates are raising is a legitimate; something more should be done to deal with all the butts left in the sand.