Remember last year when the state announced the smoking ban on all Jersey beaches? Well, don't light up now. It officially takes effect as of January 16th.

I have a few issues with this:

  • 1

    How is this news?

    I could've sworn this had already taken effect this past summer. The bill passed in July, then you saw no smoking signs everywhere along South Jersey beaches. Am I wrong?

  • 2

    How To Enforce the Ban

    SNJ Today reports that a first offense will result in a $250 fine. A third offense could end up costing you $1000! That's good chunk of change. But, wait a second. This may sound like a dumb question but how exactly is this going to be enforced? I mean, it'll be easy on the beaches that require beach tags, but what about the free beaches? How is the ban going to be enforced on them?

  • 3

    Are the "designated areas" ready to go?

    SNJ Today says that there will be designated smoking areas on the beaches. That's all well and good, but are these areas up and ready? There's a solid 5 months until the kickoff of the 2019 season, but if these areas aren't even mapped out yet, will they be properly marked and ready to go come Memorial Day?

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