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As of today new park rules - no smoking on any beach within 50' of the waterline both directions
stthomassource.com/content/news/local-news/2…
Pia
Pia, could you repost that link please? Thanks
I have to say that this is very disappointing to me. While I understand the thought process and purpose, I go to great lengths on my visits to ensure I am far away from anyone that may find my cigar smoke offensive. I also go to the trouble of removing all of my debris. Sitting on those beaches having a cigar of choice is the one activity I do look forward to all year. Shame that it has come to this I think if everyone were more tidy and considerate of others this would not be an issue.
soxman21 wrote:
I have to say that this is very disappointing to me. While I understand the thought process and purpose, I go to great lengths on my visits to ensure I am far away from anyone that may find my cigar smoke offensive. I also go to the trouble of removing all of my debris. Sitting on those beaches having a cigar of choice is the one activity I do look forward to all year. Shame that it has come to this I think if everyone were more tidy and considerate of others this would not be an issue.
I too am disappointed but I understand. Yes, if ALL other smokers were tidy and more considerate it would be LESS of an issue but the anti-smoking crowd would still want to remove your right to smoke anywhere and everywhere even if it wasn't a wildlife/marine life issue.
Plenty of non NPS beaches to enjoy a cigar on in STJ or STT or STX or the BVI. And the NPS news release indicates it is only within fifty feet of the waterline which should give you plenty of palm trees to relax under and smoke 'em if you got 'em.
This is a ruling of the National Park Service which oversees the beaches on St John and is not an all-encompassing local ruling pertaining to all the beaches in the USVI which already have less strict regulations in place concerning smoking on beaches. Frankly I hope this ruling by the NPS will promote our local government to re-address the smoking law in this respect and bring all beaches into that same compliance.
Yes, I understand all the arguments from those who smoke and, like them, I was always extremely considerate of others when I smoked on the beaches. I properly disposed of the butts and kept my exhalations away from others. But I've seen the mess that other smokers create, and both understand and have seen the damage to our already fragile and decaying underwater environment and its denizens.
Kudos to the NPS for having implemented this ban so very quickly after initial discussions. As I recall it took our local government five years to get with the program ... 😀
Once again The VI is behind the national curve. Smoking is banned by most beach govening authorities (local and state and National). Many cities are also banning smoking public. I hope they strictly enforce the ban.
Next they'll ban breathing in public.
Too many Gov. regulations telling people what they can and cannot do.
Enough already!
If you wanna smoke in your own home/land, or do whatever in your own home, that's a different story. There is certian standard of actable behavoir for public places and the public lands that we all share. Smoking is no longer acceaptable due the health risks it creates. Sorry but I'm not ok with "smelling" (ie inhalling) carcinigentics. If ya wanna smoke, feel free. Just not at our national parck beaches.
As I said,"Enough already!"
There is way too much government interference in our lives!
Alana33 wrote:
As I said,"Enough already!"
There is way too much government interference in our lives!
as a lifetime non-smoker, i find the second hand smoke of cigarettes irritating. now i don't have to have that waft my way while eating, and now on the beach.
many people i know are considerate, and clean up after themselves and remove themselves from bunches of people, but sadly, they are not 100% of smokers. i recall once a young man visiting his mom, who sitting at a table at a local restaurant with us, who wanted to smoke. his mother asked if anyone minded and i did say that i did.
he lit up anyway. i stopped what i was doing and spoke to him directly, and asked if he did not hear that i did not want him to smoke at the table while i was eating and speaking? he grabbed his pack and his lighter in a snit and stomped out to smoke. it is because of him and people like him, that regulations must be put in place. it is the cost of living in civilization. i was quite ready to pop him one.
the "interference" is actually with my breathing air that is as clean and clear as possible. smoke makes my clothes smell, gets in my hair, in my nose, and i am smelling it for days after like some sort of phantom. i don't smoke, and i don't want to. i have a right not to.
i am sorry for those who feel they need to smoke, it has to be extremely tough. but i vote for my own lungs, every time.
It not all about just smoking on the beach. I feel smoking is okay but putting cirgarette butts in the sand is the major problem.
exit zero wrote:
Plenty of non NPS beaches to enjoy a cigar on in STJ or STT or STX or the BVI. And the NPS news release indicates it is only within fifty feet of the waterline which should give you plenty of palm trees to relax under and smoke 'em if you got 'em.
I am staying on STJ for a week and usually go to Maho, Trunk and Francis all VINP beaches and I do not think any of them would be 50' from the waterline. By my count the only non VINP beaches on STJ are Caneel and the beach at the Westin. Are there others?
If you look at the shoreline from Cruz Bay to Parret beach you will find it to all be non-NP beaches. Non-VINP beaches - Frank Bay, Cruz Bay, Klein Bay, Rendevous, Fish Bay, Chocolate Hole, Parts of Haulover (unless the purchase/land grant has gone through), Cocoloba Point. I believe that the Caneel Beaches ARE VINP beaches.
Is there a smoking ban in restaurants, bars and open areas as well? Just curious, as I noticed on one page saying it was allowed (along with open containers, etc) but I wonder now if it hasn't been updated.
Yes. Even before the NPS recently implemented its own beach rules about smoking there was already a ban on beach smoking throughout the USVI although not so strict. It prohibits smoking within 20' of any bar/restaurant, picnic tables, etc. The smoking ban generally prohibits smoking within 20' of any public building or business in the USVI and inside restaurants/bars, etc. This article from 2011 explains it all and also provides a link to the full no smoking bill:
Thank you for the information!
I think that the webmaster of this site needs to update as laws change. It is somewhat misleading to see on an official tourism site things that are allowed but then find out that they are indeed illegal! I would hate to see innocent people risk the chance of tickets or jail for something they thought was ok. 😉
