By: John Michael Pierobon
Now is the time for the Florida Legislature to enact healthy legislation to protect us from harmful secondhand smoke exposure, protect young children and wildlife from toxic cigarette butts and other tobacco litter, and provide a positive role model for our youth by making all beaches and state parks tobacco-free.
Six feet is considered a safe distance regarding corona virus exposure, but regarding secondhand smoke there is no safe distance because there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke.
Secondhand smoke harms everyone, especially children. It causes cancer, heart disease, respiratory problems, and triggers asthma. Secondhand smoke even raises the risk of ear infections in children. Secondhand smoke damages the immune system, a contributing factor for more severe corona virus symptoms. Children, older adults, people with special health needs, and pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to the health risks caused by secondhand smoke exposure, even in outdoor environments.
One in four children in Florida report being subjected to secondhand smoke while at the beach or playing in a park. Having tobacco-free parks and beaches would provide families and children healthy environments where they can play and not be exposed to the dangers of secondhand smoke.
Small children routinely pick up cigarette butts and place them in their mouths, thus putting them at risk for nicotine poisoning. Cigarette butts can cause digestive blockages if eaten.
According to the United Nations International Maritime Organization, 177 species of marine animals and 111 species of shorebirds are affected by tobacco litter, causing unnecessary malnutrition, starvation, and death. Tobacco litter has been found in the stomachs of fish, birds, whales, and other animals who mistake it for food.
Cigarette butts are the most littered item in America, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Americans discard an estimated 175,000,000 pounds of cigarette butts every year. One third of the litter picked up by the Fort Lauderdale beach sweep is tobacco waste.
Cigarette butts are costly to clean up. Cigarette butts that are not fully extinguished pose a fire hazard in our parks.
Smoking is not allowed within any of the Walt Disney World theme parks. Disney recognizes that a smoke-free outdoor environment is good for business because it enhances the experience for their guests.
Florida competes with other states for tourism. Nobody wants to go to a dirty beach. That is why states from Maine and New Jersey in the east, to Hawaii and California in the west, and hundreds of municipalities in between, do not permit smoking on their beaches and in their state parks. By making our parks and beaches cleaner and healthier for our citizens and tourists, the state will earn more money from increased tourism.
Allowing tobacco use on beaches and in parks, where our impressionable youth and families with young children gather, sends a dangerous message. Tobacco use is not a behavior we want to model for the children in our communities. Research shows that tobacco-free parks policies can reduce and even prevent tobacco use among children.
Opponents do not understand this is simply an issue of clean versus dirty, healthy versus unhealthy.
In addition to reducing litter, being good for tourism, improving the environment, and protecting our wildlife and our children, a law to prohibit smoking on our beaches and in our parks would be extremely popular. A statewide poll of likely Florida voters, conducted thanks to the generosity of the QuitDoc Foundation, shows 70 percent of Florida voters favor a ballot initiative to prohibit the use of cigarettes and other tobacco products on beaches and in state parks. The poll also found 89 percent of Florida voters believe secondhand smoke is harmful to children, and 72 percent believe their local governments should have the right to prohibit smoking in public places wherever children may be present.
Numerous cities and counties across Florida have passed resolutions urging the state legislature to enact tobacco-free beaches and parks. It is time for the Florida Legislature to listen to the people and act.