Butt Out
Smoking is now off limits at beaches and playgrounds in Chicago.
The park district board voted unanimously on Wednesday to pass the ban, which took effect immediately. Police can issue warnings or tickets with a $500 fine to anyone who smokes within 15 feet of a city beach or playground. Susan Sholty, a young mother who visits city playgrounds often with her child, was all for the ban, 'especially with a toddler who picks up everything and puts it, a lot of times, in his mouth.'
The board's goal is to protect non-smokers, especially children, from second-hand smoke. But cigarette butts and filters also damage the environment. Volunteers found 35,000 butts in the sand during a three-hour cleanup of city beaches last month. 'One small thing we can do, that is not small for people using the beaches, is to stop using them as ashtrays,' Joel Brammier of the Alliance for Great Lakes said.
Tags: beaches, chicago, lake-michigan, News, parks, playgrounds, recreation, smoking, smoking-banRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Sports and Recreation
2 opinions for Butt Out
Alex
Oct 19, 2007 at 8:15 pm
I’m a smoker but I agree with most public cigarette restrictions because it seriously has made me cut back some (statewide bans in bars is the one exception). When you have less opportunities to smoke obviously you won’t smoke as much. And yeah, on the beach, that’s not cool with the butts left around.
I hope Mediterranean Europe never changes though. When I go back I’d still like to be able to smoke in the airport terminals and throw my cig butts on the ground. It’s just what you do there :).
Kicking Butts at the Lake
Jun 19, 2008 at 6:01 am
[…] more and more people are visiting Chicago's beaches along Lake Michigan. Now is a good time to remind everyone that the city will issue $500 tickets to anyone caught smoking on public beaches. Too many people […]
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