Should Volusia, Flagler beaches be smoke free? Ask Tallahassee

When Skip Beeler strolled the smoke-free beaches of California, he noticed the difference right away.

The beaches seemed more pristine than the stretch of sand he was accustomed to on Florida's Atlantic Coast.

“They just looked so much better and so much cleaner,” said Beeler, who served as mayor of Cocoa Beach and led an unsuccessful fight to ban smoking on the beach there. “We had some areas where it looked like you were walking through sea shells, but it wasn't seashells. It was cigarette butts.”

Here in Volusia and Flagler, smoking bans are gaining momentum. Daytona International Speedway prohibited smoking in the grandstands, a milestone for a sport that once was closely tied to R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona State College and Stetson University have snuffed out tobacco on campus. Smoke cigarettes.

Public health officials would like to extend those bans even further by prohibiting smoking on beaches and in parks. They point to mounds of cigarette butts littering the beaches — and the dangers of secondhand smoke — as reasons why lighting up shouldn't be allowed on Volusia and Flagler's shoreline.

But even if the political will existed locally to enact such a ban, cities and counties are prohibited from restricting smoking outdoors. Only the state can make those changes. Counties and cities can post signs asking the public not to smoke, but state law leaves local officials powerless to enforce the rules.