The Raleigh City Council decided to restrict smoking in city parks today. The council hasn’t nailed down the specifics of the ban yet, but Mayor Charles Meeker has proposed spending $25,000 on no smoking signs.
Smoking is already banned in restaurants, many UNC system campuses and all indoor workplaces.
While it may make sense to ban smoking in indoor workplaces, the inability to enforce outdoor bans makes them a waste of time, money, and relatively meaningless restriction on smokers.
UNC-Chapel Hill instituted a smoking ban within 100 feet of university buildings more than two years ago. You can spot smokers almost anywhere on campus, but police have not yet issued a single citation.
Raleigh shouldn’t spend $25,000 to enact a policy it won’t be able to enforce.
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