/////////////Waiting for a few more comments. State park managers are not around until Friday. Talking to Bill Diamond later./////////////////////////////////

Smokers heading to Sebago Lake State Beach in Casco will no longer be allowed to light up there.

Gov. John Baldacci earlier this month signed into law a bill prohibiting smoking at Maine’s state park beaches.

The bill, LD 67 – “An Act To Protect Beaches in Maine’s State Parks” – was sponsored by state Sen. John Nutting, D-Leeds, and passed in the state Senate in April. Baldacci signed it on May 13.

The smoking ban applies to areas within 20 feet of beaches, playgrounds, snack bars, group picnic shelters, enclosed areas or public restrooms.

State Rep. Michael Shaw, who represents District 102 in Standish, said he is glad to see the butts out of state park beaches, for reasons of both health and cleanliness.

“I supported this bill when it came for a vote because I continued to be concerned about secondhand smoke,” said Shaw. “There are so many kids and tourists out playing on our beaches that it makes sense to me to try to protect them. I also am concerned about the litter left by cigarette butts.”

The law is another example of Maine’s leadership in tobacco cessation, said state Rep. Mark Bryant of Windham. Since those efforts began, smoking rates have fallen, he said, which is good news for people with asthma, who can be harmed by secondhand smoke.

“One of the major reasons I supported this legislation is because second-hand smoke has profound health effects on people, especially children, with asthma,” Bryant said. “Good air quality in and out of doors promotes better health for those living with asthma. All Maine people should have the opportunity to enjoy what our state has to offer, and not have to worry about secondhand smoke while at the beach.”

Not everyone agrees with Shaw and Bryant, especially those who will no longer be allowed to smoke.

“I totally disagree with it,” said Bobby Hughes of Portland, who was smoking a cigarette on Crescent Beach Thursday and said he was unaware of the new law. “It’s outdoors. There should be a law about picking up your cigarette butts, but at this rate we should just stop making cigarettes all together.”

David Mallon of South Portland, who was playing with his kids at Crescent Beach on Thursday, said he had mixed feelings about the bill.

“I think it’s only a problem if people leave their butts behind,” he said. “The bill does seem a little unnecessary. It’s also going to be tough to enforce.”

State park wardens and staff will enforce the ban, though penalties for breaking the ban have not been decided.

The bill goes into effect immediately.

That is good news, said Shawna Jette of Falmouth while playing with her son at Crescent Beach on Thursday.

“I think it should be done everywhere,” she said. “Cigarettes kill people and not just the people who smoke them, but everyone around them too.”

“I’m even a smoker, but no one wants butts on the beach,” said Crystal Aube of Cape Elizabeth. “I don’t think it’s really the smoke that bothers people, but the trash and the butts left behind from the people who smoke.”

Hughes said he wondered why the state is banning smoking when it should be more focused on preventing people from throwing their smoked cigarettes away on the beach.

“That would make more sense than banning smoking,” he said. “I think they’ve gone too far.”

Maine District 6 Sen. Phil Bartlett, who represents Gorham, part of Scarborough and Westbrook, and voted in favor of the ban, said he understands Hughes’ philosophy, but creating a law against littering wouldn’t work.

“There already is a law against littering and it’s not effective,” Bartlett said. “So a new law in that regard wouldn’t be effective either.”

Most state laws go into effect 90 days after the Legislature adjourns. This bill went into effect immediately because it is considered an emergency bill that needed to be in place before the summer season, according to the bill’s language.