Miami Beach bans smoking on the beach from January 1, but with the exception of cigars

miami beachthe mecca of beach tourism in Florida, will join the global trend to ban smoking in places like beaches and parks on January 1, 2023, a milestone that for some is clouded by the exception made with cigars.

Civil engineer John Michael Pierobon of the Tobacco Free Partnership says anti-tobacco activists have been fighting to rid Florida’s beaches of smoke and cigarette butts for eight years, and in 2022 they have finally seen their efforts have given some result, although not all what they pursue.

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“Something is something,” says Pierobon as a consolation, who was one of the promoters of a law approved this year by the state Congress and signed last June by the governor of FloridaRon DeSantis, who leaves the decision to prohibit or not smoke on the beaches and parks of each city in the hands of the municipal authorities.

The law exempts unfiltered cigarettes at the state level, something that, according to Pierobon, obeys the personal interests of members of the Florida Congress who own or are lovers of cigar companies.

End the exception and include the state parks of Florida in the prohibitionist package are the goals of the activists for 2023 and the years to come, says Pierobono, who is certain that it will be a long and complex task.

Miami Beach, the image of Florida

miami beach It is not the first Florida city whose municipal authorities make use of the freedom granted by law to prohibit smoking cigarettes on beaches and parks, but it is the best known of all, which can have a domino effect on others and, above all, , create awareness in the general public.

Those who defend the advisability of banning smoking on beaches and parks argue that tobacco smoke is harmful to health, that filters and cigarette butts are toxic and polluting waste, and that clean sand is one of the most valued items on a beach.

The organization Keep America Beautiful points out that a third of all the garbage that is collected on the beaches and parks of the United States is cigarette remains.

In miami beachif the law is complied with, there will be no more cigarette butts or filters in the sand, as is already the case on the beaches of California and Hawaii, two tourist states that have long banned smoking on beaches and parks.

“We have the responsibility to protect this paradise, which is also the economic engine of the city,” Councilman Alex Fernández, promoter of the ordinance that will take effect on January 1 in Miami Beach, told EFE.

Fernández points out that when someone thinks of Miami or even in Florida, what immediately comes to mind are the beaches of this city nestled in Miami Dade County.

He trusts that the new norm will be respected, but for those who do not do so, fines of 100 dollars are foreseen for the first time and 200 if there is a repeat offense in the following 12 months.

In the case of a third offense, the offender can be arrested, says Fernández, who is sure that the thousands of tourists who visit miami beach they will thank and enjoy public spaces outdoors free of smoke and cigarette butts.

It is not planned to create designated spaces for smokers in miami beach, as Deerfield Beach, another South Florida city that has banned smoking in parks and beaches, has pledged to do. Smokers claimed it, Pierobon noted.

According to Fernández, in miami beach it has had to come to a ban, because smokers have not been able to take the remains of their habit with them when they smoke in parks and beaches.

Nature endangered by filters

These materials, which contain microplastics and chemical substances, end up in the stomachs of animals and contaminating the sea, sand and grass, he stresses.

The commissioner believes that it would be good if the exception to cigars ended sometime, because even if they do not contain filters and are biodegradable, other people do not have to inhale their smoke, although he sees it as difficult to achieve.

The Florida peninsula has about 825 miles (about 1,327 kilometers) of beaches, and there are still plenty of towns where smoking will still be possible for now, Pierobon says.

The anti-tobacco activist adds that in countries like Spain, where the incidence of smoking is high, smoking is already prohibited on more than 500 beaches and in Chile smoking has been prohibited 80 meters from the seashore, rivers and lakes.

In New Zealand, people born from 2009 onwards will never be able to buy tobacco in that country, but the nation that has gone the furthest is Bhutan, the first in the world to ban smoking in public spaces (2005) and where it is not legal grow, harvest and produce tobacco or sell it since 2010.

Source: Elcomercio

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I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.