Los Angeles City Council Considers Ordinance To Ban Smoking on Beaches
Los Angeles City Council member Jack Weiss (D) on Tuesday introduced a motion that would ban smoking on all Los Angeles beaches, the Los Angeles Times reports. Under the motion, the city council would ask the city attorney to write a law that would ban smoking on city beaches and adjacent areas. The city could ask Los Angeles County officials to post no-smoking signs on the beaches, and city police officers could issue citations to individuals who do not comply with the ordinance under the motion. Representatives of Weiss said the ban would affect Cabrillo, Dockweiler, Venice and Will Rogers beaches. Weiss said the law is necessary because smoking on beaches creates a public health risk from secondhand smoke, the Times reports (Garrison, Los Angeles Times, 10/15). Weiss' proposal comes after the Solana Beach City Council last week voted 5-0 to pass the state's first beach smoking ban for the city's 1.4 mile-long beach (Perry, Los Angeles Times, 10/11). A council committee will review the proposal, and the full city council could vote on it within the next several weeks.
Andy Weisser, a spokesperson for the American Lung Association of California, said Weiss' proposal was a "good idea." However, Norman Kjono, media coordinator for Forces, a not-for-profit group that generally opposes smoking bans, said, "The people who would be banned from consuming lawful tobacco products on the beaches also support those beaches with their taxes. By what right does the city council exclude them from using what they are paying for?" (Los Angeles Times, 10/15).
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