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Surfer Michael Sander believes firmly in New Hampshire’s “Live Free or Die” state motto when it comes to smoking” and that includes his right to smoke on state beaches.
Sander, 24 of Rye, surfs regularly at North Beach and says he would not obey a proposed law to ban smoking on the beach to eliminate second-hand smoke and discarded butts.
“Ban the tourists,” Sander said. “They’re the ones that litter. We put our butts in our pockets. … It’s ridiculous that anyone can tell me where I can and cannot smoke.”
State Rep. Judith Day has filed legislation to ban smoking on beaches in New Hampshire’s 23 state parks, an idea she got from neighboring Maine, which this year became the first state to ban smoking on its beaches.
The Maine law’s sponsor, Sen. John Nutting, said a mother’s complaint prompted the ban.
“The 2-year-old daughter was playing at the beach and all of a sudden she realized that her daughter’s cheeks looked like a chipmunk’s cheeks, just as full and distended as you could get them,” said Nutting, D-Leeds. “When she examined the reason for that, her little girl’s mouth was plum full of cigarette butts that she’d picked up on the beach from people smoking and discarding.”
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