Florida is one of a few states where municipalities cannot regulate tobacco use, so in an effort to reduce smoking on the city’s beaches, the commission created voluntary smoke-free areas at Fifth Street and 86th Street.
Now, a bill has been filed in the Florida Legislature that would ban cigarettes on beaches. Senate Bill 218, proposed by Republican Sen. Joe Gruters of Sarasota, would make smoking on public beaches a civil infraction. Violators could be fined $25 or ordered to perform ten hours of community service.
Then-Commissioner Michael Grieco, who was elected to the state House in November, welcomes the concept, saying he was frustrated the city couldn’t do more than put up signs to address the litter and health problems created by beach smoking.
The beach smoking ban has attracted bipartisan interest and Gruters said he believes it has a chance of advancing in the Legislature this year.
“To me there’s nothing more disgusting than when I go out to the beach and reach into the sand and pull up a cigarette butt,” Gruters said in an interview.
If the ban is approved, Florida will be like New Jersey, where a similar law is set to take effect this year.
By: Maytinee Kramer
