I can only conclude that the reader who recommends that non-smokers “walk a yard upwind” (SMDP, Dec. 2, page 4) if bothered by another’s cigarette smoke rarely goes to the beach. Any summer weekend at the beach, particularly at the popular pier area, will find people crammed together on blankets and towels barely a foot from each other. That others should get up and move their belongings or walk away whenever a tobacco addict chooses to enjoy their habit is ridiculous. He (and perhaps many others) would also see as an attack on their civil rights another suggestion I have: Ban radio playing on the beach. Many New York beaches do this and do not suffer an attendance diminishment. In this day of inexpensive walkmans, this should be no problem.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 4, 2003. Read the original PDF.