All bus stops and city-run outdoor recreational areas in Honolulu — to include beaches, parks, playgrounds, swimming pools and athletic fields — will officially be smoke-free Jan. 1.
With world-famous Waikiki Beach at his back and his paddleboard by his feet, Mayor Kirk Caldwell signed two City Council bills Sunday that ban smoking at the city’s nearly 300 Honolulu parks and about 4,000 bus stops.
"This is a really great thing for both our health and the environment because cigarette butts are made of plastic," said Suzanne Frazer, co-founder of the Beach Environmental Awareness Campaign Hawaii. "They never break down, they last forever and they have terrible toxic chemicals in them."
Volunteers spent a collective four hours before the bill signing ceremony picking up 1,334 cigarette butts from the Kapahulu groin to the end of Kuhio Beach Park, Frazer said.
"Kids eat them, fish eat them, turtles eat them," Caldwell said. "This is not good for our environment."
Honolulu City Council members unanimously passed Bills 25 and 28 on July 10. Bill 25, sponsored by Councilman Ikaika Anderson, bans smoking at city parks, while Bill 28, sponsored by Councilman Ron Menor, bans smoking within a 20-foot radius of bus shelter roofs and bus stop signs.
Penalties will range from $100 for a first violation to $500 for three or more violations. Golf courses are exempt.
The Council earlier this year passed a bill banning smoking at eight major parks, including Kapiolani Park, Kuhio Beach and Sandy Beach. But city attorneys determined that language in the bill allowed the city to enforce the law at only one beach, the makai side of Ala Moana Beach Park, because it is owned by the city. The others are on state lands.
Bill 25 eliminates that problem, but city officials said Sunday the ban at those beaches will be enforced when the citywide ban takes effect Jan. 1.
The bills were initially scheduled to take effect upon the mayor’s approval, but the Council pushed back the enforcement date to allow time for public education and for signs to be put up.
"It’s a solid step in the right direction toward sound public policy," Anderson said. "I look forward to this ban taking effect and to preserving all of our health."
Enforcement has been a hot topic since the bills passed, with some opponents saying they plan to exploit a loophole in the law that permits smoking in state waters along the shoreline.
Caldwell said he doesn’t think compliance will be an issue.
"We’re a nation of laws, and for most of us we abide by those laws," he said. "I believe that when we know you can’t smoke in parks, we won’t smoke in parks."
But just in case, the mayor said, he had William Aila, director of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, give the city permission to enforce its law in near-shore waters.
"We have this executive order signed by the state of Hawaii that basically gives the City and County of Honolulu at this park (Kuhio Beach Park) jurisdiction into the water," Caldwell said. "If someone wants to walk into water and smoke a cigarette here, it’ll be enforced, and they will be told to stop. So we hope people aren’t going to do that to thumb their noses at what is a very good law."
To some, however, the new law seems like an overreach.
Ken Miyaji, 62, of Waipahu does not smoke, but he considers the ban an ominous step in the direction of a paternalistic government dictating choices for private citizens.
"I don’t think it’s a good idea, especially when it extends to open-air public areas," said Miyaji, who spent Sunday afternoon with family at Sans Souci Beach. "I think it should be left to the discretion of the individual."
Frazer said her experience has been that smokers seem respectful of the ban at Ala Moana Beach Park.
"And you’ve only got those hard-core couple of people … who are like, ‘Oh, you know, we’re going to stand on the shoreline or whatever,’" Frazer said. "But that’s so tiny, that percentage of people who are against this bill. We found a lot of smokers are for it, so we’re very happy about it."
Waikiki resident Naomi Harder, 26, pulled hard on a Marlboro Red as she sat against a planter on the sidewalk along Waikiki Beach on Sunday.
"I think (the ban) is great," Harder said, exhaling. "We’re an island, and this will help to control litter. It will also allow other people to avoid secondhand smoke. I try to be respectful of other people when I smoke anyway, so I’m fine with taking it elsewhere."
Newlyweds Frances and Gary Baines from London said they have been impressed with Oahu’s cleanliness and that the smoking ban sounds like a good idea.
"I’m not too fussed really one way or the other," said Gary Baines, who identified himself as a smoker. "It doesn’t bother me too much."
"We like the fact that everybody seems to care — the flavor that if everybody does just a little bit, it will make everything better," Frances Baines said.
Caldwell said he doesn’t think a smoking ban on city beaches will affect tourism.
"I think in a way it actually is good for tourism," he said. "It tells people that we are a great environmental place and that we try to protect our environment."
Advocates from the state Department of Health, Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii, the Surfrider Foundation and the Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Hawaii also attended the signing.
