Smoking-on-beach ban amounts to puff of nothing...

Smoking-on-beach ban amounts to puff of nothing

“I do believe people are basically law-abiding ... “ Councilman

Steve Rosansky is quoted as saying, regarding his support of the new

law outlawing smoking on or near the beaches, as reported in the

Daily Pilot article on Thursday (“Smokers’ lights go out on city

beaches”).

Reality check. Littering on the beaches is also against the law,

isn’t it? I think it is. It is posted on signs at the beach, right?

Then why are my tax dollars used to pay for the those big, beach

trash sifters? What happened to that premise people are basically

law-abiding? Or are those beach machines meant just to pick up

cigarette butts, and now because of the new anti-smoking law I won’t

have to pay for them anymore? I hope so.

Throwing a cigarette butt out the window of a moving car is also

against the law. Does anybody get what I am trying to say here?

Maybe we should outlaw tobacco all together. Look at the costs to

our health-care system, the social costs of cancer and even the

stigma of smoking today. We outlaw drugs right? Well, tobacco is a

drug, and it is more addictive than many currently illegal drugs at

that. And while we are at it, let’s outlaw that other dangerous drug

that kills so many people every year and destroys families and is a

large burden to society: alcohol.

OK, I digress. Let’s get back to the idea people are basically

law-abiding. I agree up to a point. Most people are not murderers,

thieves, scam artists or the like, maybe because people are

law-abiding when there are severe consequences for their actions. In

Singapore, graffiti artists are given a beating with a stick, which

is called caning. And for some reason, graffiti is not a big problem

there. In Saudi Arabia a thief has his hand cut off. Theft is not a

big problem there. Growing up in the U.S., many children who used

vulgar language had their mouths washed out with soap and from then

on cleaned up their act.

First, our city makes it illegal to be on a public beach after 10

p.m. Then our city tells what us where we can smoke outside. What’s

next? I am not in favor of government telling us what we can do in

private and in public, impinging on our personal freedoms, especially

when there will be no meaningful enforcement.

PAUL JAMES BALDWIN

Newport Beach

A little more care, courtesy needed from runners, bikers

I see people jogging at night all the time. A young woman the

other night was jogging on the opposite side of the street. No lights

on her, no indication whatsoever. She just acted like it depended

upon the drivers to miss her. She was not a pedestrian; she was on

Cliff Drive.

There are similar incidences with bicycles on the wrong side on

the sidewalk, charging out of nowhere. Obviously it’s wrong, and it

happens all the time, especially around Newport Harbor High School

and on Placentia when people get off work.

I think the police ought to be policing these people or somebody,

because someone’s going to get killed. It’s been close, and I’ve been

around here for almost 50 years, and I can say that people are taking

a lot of chances when they do that. So give a warning if you can.

FRED R. BOCKMILLER SR.

Costa Mesa