While I do detest smoking and I hated being trapped in a car with my mom who smoked like a chimney when I was a kid, I too think some of the anti-smoking regulation has gone too far. Restaurants are nicer for having fewer or no smokers depending on where you live. And everyone has to eat. But everyone does not have to go to bars if they don't want to. We do not have to drink alcohol. And who has not had a few friends who smoke? Did you really refuse to be around them or to go out to bars with them in college beacause they smoked? I think given the current public mood on smoking that a few bars might decide to be smoke free and use that as a selling point even without bans.

But the real reason to prohibit smoking at a beach is to prevent the smoker from making the entire beach into one giant disgusting ashtray. Smokers have not learned to dispose of their cigarette butts properly. I do not want to have to clear away someone elses trash whenever I sit down in a public space. But the people who let their dogs poop at the park and don't pick up after it are just as bad.

Perhaps we could encourage enforcement of anti-littering laws. Cigarette buttts, candy wrappers, pop bottles, fast food cups, dog poop etc. could all be treated equally.

Agreed. It does seem that the same qualities that draw people to smoking also lead them to throwing their detritus wherever it seems easiest for them. Aside from the filth, cigarettes thrown out of car windows account for a significant portion of roadside fires in the southwest.

Then littering should be against the law.

All our municipalities are short on cash. Ticketing people who throw their butts on the ground is a win-win. Start the fines at $50 and raise it another $50 every six months as smokers get used to taking care of their own butts. The cities get cleaner, and make some money. If your a smoker and you don't want to pay the fine, dispose of the butts properly. Cop shows always get DNA evidence from cigarettes. If someone wants to challenge whether the cigarette was theirs, do a DNA test. If they prove it wasn't them the city pays for the test, but if they lose, the cost of the test gets tacked on to the fine.