Picture this. A summer day spent at the beach, with not a cigarette smoker in sight. Sounds like an ideal image, right? Depending on where you are, this might become a reality, but according to two researchers from Columbia University, Ronald Bayer and Kathleen Bachynski, the science behind banning cigarettes at the beach is not very strong.
Proponents of the ban assert that smoking in parks and on beaches is dangerous because it exposes people to secondhand smoke, causes pollution from cigarette butts and provides children in those areas with bad role models. However, the Columbia researchers say that our analysis of the evidence for these claims found it far from definitive and in some cases weak. They go further, saying that basing policy on weak science is hazardous for public health policy makers, for whom public trust is essential. And even the American Lung Association, the American Heart Association and the American Cancer Society are voicing skepticism for these bans.
ACSH s Dr. Elizabeth Whelan adds, We here at the American Council on Science and Health have advocated for the backing of public policy by sound science for decades. In terms of this measure, it is clear that these policymakers are not driven by science and I am in full agreement with the researchers that this is going to result in loss of credibility. If they want to ban smoking on beaches, that is perfectly fine, but it should not be disguised as a public health matter.
ACSH s Dr. Gilbert Ross agrees: We should be careful to differentiate the science basis of banning outdoor smoking, on beaches or elsewhere, from the aesthetic and long-term public health factors. Sure, sitting on a beach next to a smoker is very unpleasant. However, we allow, indeed encourage bans of other repulsive, obnoxious or disgusting activities outdoors in plain sight, not solely for reasons of health. It is at least worthy of discussion as to whether eliminating the sight of smoking in public would be worthwhile from a public health or denormalization perspective.
