New bill would ban smoking on Florida beaches. (Orlando Weekly)

I agree with California Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr., who vetoed similar Draconian legislation three years in a row, in 2016, 2017 and 2018.   Four-term California Governor Jerry Brown was elected California's youngest governor in the 1970s. He was elected California's oldest governor, just ending his fourth term now.  In between he was Mayor of Oakland (which Gertrude Stein once pronounced as having "no there there") and California State Attorney General.

Jerry Brown knows a bad bill and a silly shibboleth when he sees it.  He vetoed it thrice.

The no-tobacco on beaches bill is an idea whose time has not come.

On this issue, I also agree with ACLU, which opposes this bill in Florida.

Perhaps some restrictions on smoking in public are appropriate, as in picnic and play areas in state parks and beaches.

A tribute to illiberal liberal control freaky, the unconstitutionally overbroad legislation is not necessary.

If it were ever adopted, I fully expect that it would be disproportionately enforced against low-income and minority citizens, embroiling them in the misdemeanor criminal injustice system.

Tobacco is a legal product.

While its consumption in workplaces is banned by Florida's Constitution, its use on beaches is not established to be a public health hazard and is not a priority for legislation.

This legislation is an invitation to litigation, which the State of Florida would lose.

Having banned Gay marriage, lost in courts, and obliged to pay nearly $500,000 in attorney fees, the State of Flori-DUH would be wise to respect the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights before adopting unjust laws.

File this dumb 'ole bill under the category of irrelevant, a tribute to our Florida Democratic legislators being ineffectual and insouciant to the real problems of our state.

From Orlando Weekly:

New bill would ban smoking on Florida beaches

Posted By Colin Wolf on Wed, Jan 2, 2019 at 2:04 pm

A new bill aims at keeping Florida beaches from turning into ashtrays. 

Sarasota House Republican Joe Gruters wants to outlaw smoking on all public beaches through a newly introduced bill, SB218, which would fine first-time violators $25 or 10 hours of community service. 

If passed, the bill, which doesn't seem to include any language about vaping, would go into effect July 1. 

This isn't the first time someone has tried to snuff out smoking on the beach. In 2017, a law that was in place for five years and banned smoking in Sarasota County public parks and beaches was tossed by a judge who declared it unconstitutional on the grounds that local jurisdictions couldn't ban something that was legal on a state level. 

On top of that, civil rights leaders, predominantly the ACLU of Florida, argued that the law selectively targeted homeless people. 

Florida isn't alone in its pursuit of buttless sand. New Jersey recently banned smoking on its public beaches, a punishment that comes with a hefty $250 fine.