Smoking Ban Expansion: Is Sky Falling or Clearing?

If the Health Department has its way, smoking Santas will be ousted from city parks. (Pixietart's Flickr)

One day after city health commissioner Dr. Thomas A. Farley revealed his intention to expand the city's smoking ban to parks and beaches, something terrifying happened: We woke up this morning to find ourselves in complete agreement with conservative NY Post demagogue Andrea Peyser. Obviously, this means that we were wrong in supporting the ban and ought to start smoking Lucky Strikes at once. Peyser opines:

Visiting the beach or the park should no longer require an oxygen mask. If one wants to smoke, there are places to freely enjoy that activity. Like China... The idea won't sit well with the pathologically addicted few who continue to force innocent citizens to unwillingly breathe their poisons. But this is a scenario whose time has come... Few things are more aggravating and disgusting than being forced to swallow fumes emitted by a mother, father, grandpa or stalker whose bond with nicotine prevents them from stepping outside the city's precious, toddler-filled recreation areas in order to slowly kill themselves.

Others, like smoker-on-the-street Ronald Carey, 63, tell the Daily News, "It's really ridiculous. I'm not going to support smoking, but things have gotten out of hand. What's next?" Hm, let's see, drunken gunslinging? Anyway, it's unclear that Mayor Bloomberg is even 100% behind the proposal, which was buried within the big public health initiative announced yesterday. Last night the Mayor's office released a statement explaining that Hizzoner wants "to see if smoking in parks has a negative impact on people’s health. It may not be logistically possible to enforce a ban across thousands of acres, but there may be areas within parks where restricting smoking can protect health."

Officials say the ban may require the approval of the City Council, but could possibly be implemented through administrative rule-making by the Parks Department. Council Speaker Christine Quinn tells the Times, "Conceptually, that’s an idea I’m very, very interested in and open to," but "fines should be modest and not intended primarily to punish." Similar smoking bans in public parks and beaches have been enacted in California and Chicago. What do you think?

Should the city expand the smoking ban to parks and beaches?(survey software)

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By John Del Signore in News on September 15, 2009 12:33 PM

Comments [rss]

dwayno

agreed! i see people smoking all over the parks and then it blows in everyone's face, including the faces of children. smoking is gross and bad for everyone's health. figure out a way to quit and save yourself some money and a few years on your life.

jeff

This is why I chew tobacco.

JMH

I'm so confused - I've never felt this way about Santa before.

chodearm

Most smokers are careless litterers too. Cigarettes butts never turn to sand assholes.

IvoryJive

I think it would be fair if they coupled it with easily accessible sectioned-off smoking areas like at airports

jpeditor

If we are going to ban behavior that is a risk to public health, can we start with Fire Island?

Manitoba2

If smokers weren't so selfish, they wouldn't have to worry about this. Namely, the Parks Dept. is interested in fines, but I'm sure they're also interested in no longer having to spend absurd amounts of money to pay people to pick up butts all over the parks and beaches.

I don't really care when people smoke at the beach or in a park, but I'm always amazed to see people just flick the butt onto the sand or ground, not caring that someone may have to pick it up, or a dog or kid might eat it.

Instead of banning smoking, I'd like to see a gestapo-like enforcement/crackdown of littering, specifically by smokers, in parks and at beaches.

hotstepper

you know who else are chronic litterers? fisherman. they leave styrofoam worm cups, beer cans, and fishheads all along our waterways, those nasties.

let's ban them too! more laws everyone! pile on!

JacqueMehoff

phuking phishermen, thinking the world is their garbage can.

hotstepper

and harming our beloved sea-kittens, don't forget.

Manitoba2

The laws are already there - they're just no enforced.

katiebaker

I can understand putting a ban on smoking in areas like the playground or picnic areas but a park wide smoking ban is ridiculous. People need to realize this ban being accepted only sets us up to have more laws infringing on our basic freedoms passed.