The state legislature will be voting on Monday whether to ban smoking in state parks and beaches. If it is passed, the law will impact over one dozen parks and beaches in Santa Cruz County. An effort to pass the ban yesterday fell five votes short of the necessary majority.
Last year the city of Santa Cruz enacted one of the strictest smoking bans in California.html, but many local groups hope to extend the ban even further. Save Our Shores pointed out that last year alone it picked up over 60,000 cigarette butts from county beaches, adding that a butt is “worse than most litter. It’s plastic and it contains toxins.” Nevertheless, many local beaches already have smoking bans in effect.
While state parks officials are not opposed to the ban in principle, they say that it will be difficult to enforce, particularly with their own budgets being slashed. They simply do not have the staff to add enforcement of the ban to their other responsibilities. Read more at the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
