Democrat Lawmaker Wants to Ban Outdoor Smoking, Vaping at Public Parks

TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA — Taking a drag at a public park could carry a hefty price tag in Florida if one Democrat lawmaker gets her way.

Ahead of the 2024 Legislative Session, State Rep. Marie Woodson (D-Hollywood) filed a proposal last week to ban smoking and vaping in public parks. The current version of HB 495 threatens to hit violators with fines ranging from $100 and $500.

Woodson is not the first Florida legislator to push for banning smoking in state parks. In 2021, Sen. Joe Gruters (R-Sarasota) proposed a similar bill – one that also sought to empower local governments to limit smoking at beaches and city parks.

While Gruters’ bill did not pass, there may be public support for the initiative. 

Earlier this year, a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) survey indicated that 57 percent of Americans would support an outright ban on the sale of all tobacco products. A 2019 Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that 52 of Americans said they would support a ban on the sale of e-cigarettes, compared to 44 percent who said they would oppose it.

While smoking in public reportedly does not pose significant health risks to non-smokers nearby, the increased stigmatization of smoking may help deter people from picking up the addictive products in the first place. 

“The evidence of harm to non-smokers on the beach or in a park from someone smoking is virtually non-existent,” Ronald Bayer, a public health professor at Columbia University, told PBS in 2013.

“[Smoking bans] make it more difficult for smokers to smoke and contribute in an important way to the ‘denormalization’ of smoking.”