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Bethany Beach town council members Friday night voted 6 to 1 to regulate smoking.
The new rules outlaw smoking year-round in town parks and on the beach and boardwalk in the summer.
Those caught breaking the new law face fines up to $500.
On Friday afternoon, several visitors filled the popular town attractions where buzz of the proposed ban was the hot topic of discussion.
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Smokers: Puff wisely on the beach this summer. The Bethany Beach Town Council passed a new chapter to the town code regulating smoking in areas of the town, most notably large portions of the beach and boardwalk.
In a 6-1 vote Friday, the council approved an ordinance making it illegal to smoke in town parks, playgrounds and the Boardwalk Plaza at the east end of Garfield Parkway at all times of the year, and make smoking illegal on the vast majority of the boardwalk and beach between May 15 and Sept. 15. Designated smoking areas are planned for both the beach and the boardwalk, equipped with proper disposal receptacles for cigars and cigarettes.
The passing of the ordinance was not without discussion.
Kids across Ohio will rally against tobacco on Wednesday as they join thousands of young people nationwide for the 13th annual Kick Butts Day, sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Hundreds of events are planned across the nation.
At noon at the Clinton County Court House lawn, youth from STAND will display 54 body bags which represent the number of Ohioans who die each day in the U.S. from tobacco and secondhand smoke.
This year, Kick Butts Day is raising awareness about continued tobacco marketing and sales to kids and the need for Congress to crack down on these harmful practices by passing legislation granting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority to regulate tobacco products.
nsurance costs and survive a wheezing economy, some are scrutinizing their employees' off-duty behavior, firing those who smoke, tacking surcharges onto overweight workers' health plans and even dismissing people for having an off-duty drink.
Such practices are raising claims of unwarranted intrusion, a few cries of illegal discrimination and warnings of fraying liberties. "If it's your own business and you can't do what you want, that's communism," said Mill Creek resident Helen Muhlmichl, a nonsmoker and smoking opponent who has even lost a father to lung cancer.
But without a change in the law, experts see little prospect of bringing a successful legal challenge in Delaware.
Twenty-nine states have laws specifically protecting workers from being fired for off-duty smoking, but Delaware isn't among them. . . .
employers mainly are targeting smokers. In part, society's crusade against smoking has made smokers politically "safe" to persecute, Siegel said.
Governments and businesses routinely impose increasing restrictions on where they may light up -- even when second-hand smoke is not a risk. Cash-strapped states, including Delaware, have come to realize that raising smokers' taxes will cause the least squawking and minimal sympathy.
"It's a voluntary act," Sean McDevitt, partner at Pepper Hamilton in Wilmington, said of smoking. "Let's face it, we push them outside to smoke on rainy days. ... I think there is little pity on smokers."
Some companies offer smoking cessation programs and other assistance before taking more drastic measures. . . .
Delaware's legal and legislative atmosphere does not seem conducive to creating more restrictions on employers
The state Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Enforcement has begun a new initiative that recognizes Delaware liquor stores and other licensed establishments that refuse to sell alcoholic beverages to people younger than 21.
Bethany Beach, a popular Delaware vacation spot, is drafting legislation to ban smoking on its beach and boardwalk.
The town council, with one member absent, deadlocked Friday in a 3-3 vote on a proposal to completely ban smoking on the boardwalk and restrict smoking on the beach to seven or eight areas to be determined by the town manager.
The council then voted 5-1 to draft legislation that would ban smoking on the boardwalk and the beach from May 15 to Sept. 15. If passed, the law would take effect no later than June 1.
More beach towns are considering outdoor smoking bans, mainly because of environmental concerns over discarded cigarette butts
Maryland residents are just getting used to a smoking ban imposed Feb. 1 in restaurants and bars, but the public debate over lighting up may not end with inside spaces. A small Delaware town is preparing to ban smoking on its beach and boardwalk, and other municipalities along the coast are taking notice.
Cigarette butts add to beach clean-up efforts -- they usually have to be picked up by hand, rather than by a machine -- and the smoke can bother tourists sitting downwind, ban proponents say. Others counter that prohibiting smoking outdoors, even in crowded areas like boardwalks and beaches, is the height of government intrusion. . . .
The town council of Bethany Beach, Del. -- about 15 miles north of Ocean City -- voted last week to draft smoking prohibitions for the beach and boardwalk during the summer and for the parks and bandstand all year. Eight designated smoking areas would be created along the back of the beach.
The Bethany Beach Town Council is expected Friday to approve an ordinance that would ban smoking on the beach, the boardwalk and in municipal parks.
Effective Friday, Feb. 1, smoking indoors is prohibited by law in the state of Maryland. That means bars, restaurants, clubs and hotels, as well as government-operated public transportation, are smoke-free areas where repeat offenders get stuck with hefty fines.
"Secondhand smoke is a true health hazard," said Claire Mullins, spokesperson for the American Lung Association of Maryland. "Limiting it in public places like bars and restaurants is just another step to improve public health.
"This is a public health issue, it's not a civil liberties issue," she added.
The smoking ban also falls roughly at the same time as an increased cigarette tax, going from $1 to $2 per pack, which took effect Jan. 1. . . .
However, Maryland also earned a "D" for tobacco prevention spending and an "F" for youth access. . . .
Smoking bans are nothing new to the area, particularly in Delaware.
In 2002, the state enacted the Clean Indoor Air Act . . .
Restaurateurs now say that several years into the ban, indoor smoking is practically a non-issue. But, that's not to say there wasn't an initial impact.
BETHANY BEACH -- The Town Council discussed at length the issue of smoking on the beach Monday.
Vice Mayor Tony McClenny originally proposed banning smoking on the town's beach in July.
"I'd like to thank everybody who's kept an open mind on this issue," he said. "Some people had opinions to begin with, and we'll all have opinions in the end, and someday we'll vote on this."
New information supporting a ban was revealed by McClenny. The Delaware Dental Hygienists Association, along with a growing number of town residents, was supportive of an ordinance banning smoking in Bethany.
The American Lung Association is giving Delaware high marks in the organization's sixth annual "State Of Tobacco Control" report card.
Spokeswoman Laura Quinn says the First State scored well in several categories.
Delaware received an "A'' for its "tobacco prevention and control spending" and "smoke-free air" policies. However, the state received a "C'' in the category of "youth access."
Abstract: Revenues at three gaming facilities in Delaware declined significantly after the implementation of a smoke-free law. The relative magnitudes of losses at the three facilities correspond to the availability of alternative gaming venues in the region, suggesting consumer flight. Efforts to mitigate revenue losses engendered additional costs, further reducing operating profits.
A paper by Mandel, Alamar, and Glantz, recently published in Tobacco Control, purports to show that the implementation of a smoking prohibition in Delaware had no statistically significant effect on the gaming revenue from slot machine-like video lottery terminals (VLTs) located at Delaware racetracks.1 A subsequently published correction by Glantz and Alamar corrects for a data coding error and for reported heteroskedasticity in the data, but reaches the same conclusion of no significant effect.2
I have carefully examined the data and methodologies used in those studies, and conclude that their finding is questionable.
-- The showdown over a potential smoking ban in Bethany Beach recorded its latest chapter, with both sides of the argument squaring off in a public hearing at Town Hall.
Smokers and non-smokers alike stated their cases to the Bethany Beach Town Council Friday evening regarding a smoking ban. The ban has been a hot topic since it was brought up in June.
Mayor Carol Olmstead reassured residents that the council would not rush into a decision.
"The council will not be voting on the subject tonight," she said. "We are hear to listen to the public's comments."
The Bethany Beach Charter and Ordinance Committee recommended Thursday that the Town Council ban smoking on the beach, boardwalk and bandstand.
The five-member committee met at Bethany Beach Town Hall to discuss the matter, which was first brought up in July. Statistics presented by town officials Thursday showed more than 1,200 cities and counties nationwide have banned smoking within their limits. Additionally, 47 beaches and 222 parks have also snuffed out smoking.