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# No butts here: Smoking ban lights up today
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/no-butts-here-smoking-ban-lights-up-today/
- Published: 2004-05-27T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T04:25:00.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Environment, Pier, #archive-import

*Beach smoking ban could extend throughout state*

*By Daily Press staff*

SM BEACH — It may affect their tan lines, but smokers headed here might want to start wearing the patch to curb withdrawal symptoms. Starting today, it’s officially illegal to light up a cigarette along the sandy coast.

The controversial smoking ban was passed by the City Council last month. Enforcement starts just in time for an influx of out-of-town visitors and record crowds headed to the beach for the holiday weekend.

If caught, the crime is punishable by $750 in fines. However, for the next 90 days, officers will warn offenders before citing them. After that, smokers who light up at local beaches or on the pier can be given a $250 ticket. The ban also outlaws smoking at public waiting areas, like bus stops. Once fines, penalties and other court costs are totaled, violators can expect to be out of pocket $750 or more, prosecutors said.

To appease concerned merchants, council members agreed to set aside designated smoking areas on the pier. The quantity, size and location of those areas has yet to be decided, but officials said they were willing to consider including portions of outdoor eating areas and private parties on the pier.

It’s unclear how difficult it will be to enforce the new law, especially because many of the visitors to the beaches and pier are tourists who will need to be constantly educated about the city’s law.

The Los Angeles City Council last month also banned smoking on the four beaches in the city of LA — Cabrillo, Dockweiler, Will Rogers and Venice — which comprises 13 miles of beach. The Malibu City Council also passed a smoking ban on its beaches and the law will take effect this summer.

In an attempt to not confuse anyone about where they can light up, Assemblyman Paul Koretz (D-West Hollywood) announced this week that he will introduce a bill to ban smoking on all public beaches on all of California’s 1,200-mile coastline.

Smoking also is prohibited in Santa Monica parks and within 20 feet of a public building.

California is at the forefront of antismoking legislation. Perhaps the fiercest bans exist in Davis, Berkeley, Palo Alto and San Ramon, where smoking is illegal within 20 feet of any smoke-free area. For Santa Monica that would mean stores, restaurants and offices.

Outdoor dining areas are smoke free — by law — in Davis, Berkeley, Santa Barbara, San Ramon, Laguna Hills, Los Gatos and Dublin. Smoking is also prohibited in non-public waiting areas — like ATM and movie theater lines — in Davis, Palo Alto, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Goleta, Carpinteria, Buellton and Dublin. Davis and Berkeley have upped to 75 percent the number of rooms that must be set aside as smoke free in every hotel. State law requires 35 percent, officials said.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 27, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/052704.pdf?ref=smdp.com)