Residents of New Jersey have been taking their cigarettes outdoors for three years now. But one top lawmaker wants them to quit puffing outside as well.
This proposal could be taken up by the end of the year and it would ban smoking in public parks and beaches.
Sen. Barbara Buono, plans to introduce a bill when Legislature returns, and she says, "It's moved beyond a nuisance to a health hazard."
Recently New York City's health commissioner announced a similar plan, giving the push for New Jersey; this is all a result of the national debate over healthcare costs.
Buono says, "Parks and beaches are the place people go with children in order to breathe the fresh air and to exercise and to be out in the sun." She adds, smokers "don't have a right to impose these health risks on the non-smoking public."
It's not even a question of what smokers have the right to do and not do, it is simply decided for them. In large open outdoor areas, second-smoke probably has as much of a negative effect (even less) as car exhaust fumes, and nobody is taking steps to ban cars.
[Via: nj.com]
