OCEAN CITY – An amendment banning smoking and vaping in all city parks will advance to a second reading following a favorable vote.
On Monday, the Mayor and Council agreed to advance a code amendment making smoking and vaping unlawful in all public parks to a second reading. City Solicitor Heather Stansbury said the ordinance essentially eliminates designated smoking areas at Northside Park and changes references to marijuana.
“This removes Northside Park as a designated smoking area, thus prohibiting smoking and vaping in all public parks,” she explained. “And it modifies the reference to the word marijuana throughout this code section, as the state legislature, with the changes it the laws regarding this substance, has now asked that we refer to it as cannabis.”
In 2015, the council passed an ordinance making smoking and vaping unlawful in all public parks except Northside Park, where it would be allowed within 15 feet of designated smoking areas. That decision, officials say, was made to accommodate the vast number of smokers who participated in softball tournaments at Northside Park.
However, Recreation and Parks Director Susan Petito told the council earlier this month that those designated smoking areas are not being appropriately used, and that unlawful smoking and vaping had increased throughout the park to include the unlawful use of cannabis products in public spaces.
America, home of the brave, land of the free my ass
Land of the free, home if the brave. That was a test and no one even even caught it. I guess the mainstream media is our education these days.