Law change in Florida drives push for public smoking ban

Three Florida state lawmakers announced a plan Thursday to ban smoking and vaping on streets, sidewalks, public parks and most publicly accessible areas of the city.

The ban expands on a 2022 law banning smoking on public beaches and would provide “guardrails” for a proposed constitutional amendment to legalize the possession and use of recreational marijuana, according to lead sponsor Sen. Joe Gruters (R-Sarasota).

Gruters sponsored the beach measure and recently announced his support for the marijuana initiative called Amendment 3.

Governor Ron DeSantis criticized the initiative, saying that “Florida's cities and towns would smell like marijuana, which would reduce the quality of life.”

Gruters agrees with DeSantis' concerns, but said nearly half the country has legalized marijuana and he expects Florida voters to do the same in November.

“I'm not a big fan of smoking of any kind. I think it affects my enjoyment when I'm out in public. We don't want to see what happened in (Las) Vegas and New York with smoking on the street … people don't want to smell it,” Gruters said.

According to the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, 28 states, including Florida, have laws banning smoking in workplaces and restaurants and bars.

According to the American Non-Smokers' Rights Organization, 22 of these states prohibit the use of marijuana for recreational and medicinal purposes in smoke-free spaces.

Gruters said he borrowed language from a 2022 Arizona smoking ban and proposed a measure to be taken up in the Florida legislature in 2025.

The question of whether voters would approve Amendment 3 played no role in Democratic Senator Darryl Rouson's decision to join his Republican colleague as a co-signer of the ban.

“It's about having guard rails (for smokers),” said the MP from St. Petersburg. “It's about enjoying public places like parks and beaches, like other public places where people don't want to walk into the smoke. I support this bill 100 percent because it reflects good ideas.”

Republican Rep. Chip La Marca of Lighthouse Point will introduce the proposal in the House. He said the focus of the proposal is to maintain Florida's reputation for clean air and water.

“I want to make sure we preserve our pristine environment and people can enjoy themselves in sidewalk cafes, on beaches, in parks and, quite frankly, in their own neighborhoods,” La Marca said.

Gruters and La Marca worked in six meetings to enforce the smoking ban on the beach.

They have yet to secure the support of Republican leadership – neither from DeSantis nor from future Senator Ben Albritton of Wauchula and future Speaker of the House Daniel Perez of Miami.