Rehoboth limits smoking on beach, boardwalk

Steve Curson's quest for a smoking ban on Rehoboth's beach went further than he could have hoped.
On Monday, its commissioners voted to make Rehoboth the last of Delaware's major ocean resorts to ban smoking on the beach, except for a few designated areas. But the commissioners took the ban a step further, prohibiting smoking on the resort's mile-long boardwalk and the public areas adjacent to it.
The ban takes effect May 15.
Bethany Beach, Fenwick Island, the guarded ocean beaches at two coastal Delaware State Parks and Dewey Beach already ban smoking. South Bethany Beach still allows it and Lewes, on Delaware Bay, allows smoking on the beach but not in municipal parks.
Curson's effort started last summer over "my frustration ... from sitting on the beach and having smokers ruin my day."
In September, he started a petition drive and by January, he presented close to 1,000 signatures of residents and visitors, calling on city officials to enact a beach smoking ban.
Poll: Limiting smoking at Rehoboth Beach
In 2011, City Commissioner Stan Mills proposed a smoking ban on the beach and boardwalk. Instead, commissioners voted 5-2 to ban smoking in parks, as a first step.
Mills said Monday he was pleased that this time the vote was unanimous and that city officials decided to expand the smoking prohibition.
Mills said second-hand smoke is a real health concern and people shouldn't have to be exposed to it.
"Do we want to become known as the place to go ... to be able to smoke," Mills said. While people can move away from smokers, "they shouldn't have to," Mills said.
The vote Monday reflects a growing local and national trend to restrict smoking in public, outdoor locations. New York City bans smoking at public parks and beaches and New Jersey state lawmakers are considering a similar ban.
Rehoboth commissioners adopted the smoking restrictions at a special meeting on Monday morning.
Mills said the goal is to reduce litter, pollution and health risks.
Curson said that although he hoped for an all-out smoking ban on the beach, he believes that the limited smoking areas are a step forward.
"I can live with that," Curson said. "I'm very pleased they moved as quickly as they did."
Over time, commissioners may be able to extend it to an all-out ban on the beach, he said.
The initiative would be funded using $12,000 currently in the budget to update signs, along with an additional $9,000 in city funds.
The city also hopes to get $10,000 through a grant from the American Lung Association. Mills said he sent in a proposal to the association, which was tentatively approved for up to $15,000.
The ban will not include e-cigarettes, which Mayor Sam Cooper argued was in line with the purpose of the proposal.
"The premise of this ordinance fits that. There's no litter, you use it over and over again, and there's no smoke," Cooper said.
The city manager will come up with the designated smoking areas, Mills said. The ordinance allows for up to 20 that would be designated during the peak season from May 1 through Sept. 30. No more than four designated smoking areas would be allowed in the offseason.
The smoking areas will be at least 40 feet from beach access areas, Mills said. Smokers will find them up near the edge of the sand dunes, and will they will be small – about the size of about four beach towels. They will be marked with signs and equipped with urns to dispose of butts.
"Education is the key to voluntary compliance," Mills said.
Mills said he did not expect the city's police department to enforce the new ordinance with a heavy hand, hoping 99 percent of people would willingly comply. For those who do not, there would be a $25 fine.
Curson said he was pleased the commissioners extended the ban to the boardwalk.
"You might as well be smoking yourself," if you are walking on the boardwalk behind someone who is, he said.
Curson's mother died from lung cancer about six years ago, but he said that wasn't his motivation.
"I felt I was doing it more for the children," he said.

Drop in smoking threatens embattled tobacco bonds

Indoor tanning being compared to smoking

Cases of skin cancer are on the rise and now health experts are saying tanning beds should be considered just as dangerous as smoking cigarettes.

Melanoma is currently the leading cause of cancer in women ages 25 through 30 and the blame has been placed on tanning beds.

However, a local business owner says there is another side of the story. The owner of Neon Sun in Amarillo, Blake Goldston, says the health benefits are never included in the research. "The tanning industry has never done any of its own research, all of the research that has ever been done is coming from independent studies through the CDC, through universities, hospitals, that sort of thing, so health benefits include things like helping with allergies, arthritis, it helps with depression and to prevent sleeping disorders."

Most cities in Texas have more tanning salons than popular fast food chain restaurants. A local doctor, Elaine Cook, says there needs to be more health warnings about the risks with tanning. "People think that skin cancer is a minor thing and it is nothing to be worried about. People know tanning beds causing aging and wrinkles and people tend to be more concerned about that, but the skin cancer a lot of people blow off. And you know the sad thing about that is melanoma is the serious kind of skin cancer that kills you."

However, Goldston says there are vital health benefits from participating in indoor tanning. "80 percent of people in the world lack vitamin D and your body needs vitamin D. The CDC actually doubled there weekly recommended exposure to ultraviolet light because of this."

Cook says you don't need to indoor tan to receive vitamin D. She says you get as much as you need through 5 minutes a day of sun exposure to the back of your hand. In September Texas outlawed minors from tanning in a tanning bed, regardless of parental consent.

Report: Captain warned Justin Bieber to stop smoking weed

A captain of a private jet which transported Justin Bieber to New Jersey last week warned the star and his entourage to stop smoking marijuana onboard, according to an incident report.
The “Baby” singer flew in to the state from his native Canada on Friday to attend the Super Bowl football championship game on Sunday, but hit headlines when his private jet was reportedly targeted in a drugs raid after landing.
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officers and border officials are said to have searched the plane with sniffer dogs, but failed to find any illegal substances.
Now it has emerged the captain of the jet warned the pop star and his entourage to stop smoking dope onboard while they were in the air.
The revelation was made in an official incident report, obtained by Nbcnews.com, which states, “The captain of the flight stated that he warned the passengers, including Bieber, on several occasions to stop smoking marijuana.”
The report also suggests that Bieber, 19, and his group were rude to a flight attendant, adding, “The captain also stated he needed to request that the passengers stop their harassing behavior toward the flight attendant and after several warnings asked the flight attendant to stay with him near the cockpit.”
The news comes amid mounting legal woes for Bieber, who is facing multiple charges in Florida stemming from a DUI arrest last month, as well as assault allegations in Canada relating to a reported attack on a limousine driver.

Letter: Pass smoking age increase in Suffolk

Emphasizing that smoking remains the leading preventable cause of premature disease and death in the United States, a recent report from the surgeon general stresses the need to redouble our efforts to eradicate this epidemic, and especially to prevent young people from starting ["Eye on smoke law impact," News, Jan. 29].Golden Gate Blue
Suffolk County's proposed law to raise the legal smoking age to 21 is right on the mark. Each year, smoking kills nearly 500,000 adults, at a cost of $289 billion in direct medical care and other costs such as lost productivity.
Passage of this law would prevent many of our youth from becoming sad statistics and maintain Suffolk's standing as a leader in this vital public health issue.