Outdoor Smoking in Public Areas Banned in New Hampshire
Two controversial smoking bills that were sidelined this year may make a comeback in the next legislative season. One bill would have banned outdoor smoking in public areas of state parks and another on all state beaches in New Hampshire. The N.H. House Committee on Resources, Recreation and Development, chaired by Rep. Judith Spang, D-Durham, has been working on legislation that would limit the areas of beaches where smoking Monte Carlo would be allowed.
The committee will present its findings and recommendations during a public hearing Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. at Rye Public Library.
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State Rep. Susan Kepner, D-Hampton, said the committee’s findings came after the group studied her bill and one sponsored by state Rep. Judith Day, D-North Hampton. Kepner’s bill proposed a smoking ban on all public places where people congregate at state parks, while Day filed legislation to ban smoking on beaches similar to what Maine did. Both were referred to interim study.
Kepner said the committee basically combined both bills into one.
“We are not saying you can’t do it, we are just saying there are certain places where you can,” Kepner said.
Both Kepner and Day said health was the number one reason for proposing their bills. Getting rid of discarded cigarette butts left on the ground, they said, was a bonus.
A representative from Maine will be at the public hearing to talk about the state smoking ban that was instituted two years ago. The state became the first state to ban smoking on its beaches.
The Maine law’s sponsor, Democrat state Sen. John Nutting, said a mother’s complaint prompted the ban. The mother was horrified to see her 2-year-old playing on the beach stuff a handful of cigarettes butts in her mouth that were lying on the sand.
“We had someone on our committee who said the beaches have never been so clean since the law was passed in Maine,” Kepner said.
Rep. Jeffrey St. Cyr, R-Alton, who led the subcommittee studying the issue, will discuss the information the subcommittee has considered, and its proposed recommendations.
Public comment is encouraged to assist the N.H. Legislature in its deliberations on the issue.
The committee will also discuss with area residents the new legislation that enables municipalities and citizens to participate in the maintenance and the enforcement of regulations in all state parks.
Kepner said she hopes the new version of the bill is filed in the upcoming session, especially whereas other states are now moving in the same direction.
New York City is pursuing a tough new policy that would ban smoking in public parks, beaches and even the heart of Times Square. Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration and city lawmakers announced last week they will pursue a broad extension of the city’s smoking ban to 1,700 parks and 14 miles of public beaches, plus boardwalks, marinas and pedestrian plazas.
New Hampshire already bans smoking in public buildings, offices and work places, except in smoking areas that are effectively segregated.
Smoking is also banned in schools, child care agencies, hospitals, grocery stores, elevators, buses, tramways, restaurants and bars.
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