DeLand is considering whether to ban smoking and vaping in public parks, but unfiltered cigars, thanks to state law, will still be permitted.
The DeLand City Commission will consider an ordinance that would prohibit smoking and vaping in nearly all public parks owned by the city. The item already passed a first reading and is expected to have a final hearing before the City Commission on Monday. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m.
DeLand Mayor Chris Cloudman and Parks and Recreation Director Rick Hall said the city sometimes has problems with people smoking at parks, including during Little League events. They said the city wants to keep children and other people from being exposed to smoke.
Just asking people to stop smoking hasn’t been effective.
“It’s kind of amazing to me in 2024 that we’re having to, you know, put teeth behind asking people not to smoke around other families,” Cloudman said.
Hall said if the ordinance is enacted the city will post signs at parks to warn people of the change. Cloudman said the city’s intent isn’t to start “fining people left and right” but to educate them.
The city plans to craft penalties once the ordinance is adopted, city spokesman Chris Graham said.
The law won’t apply to unfiltered cigars because that is preempted by state law, officials said.
The city’s parks include, among other sites, the Chipper Jones Family Little League Complex at 260 West Walts Ave., Bill Dreggors Park at 230 N. Stone St., Earl Brown Park in the 600 Block of S. Alabama Ave. and Painter’s Pond at the corner of South Alabama and East Wisconsin avenues.
Pioneer Park, which is in the heart of downtown near bars, would not be included.
Peggy Whitmore said she is opposed to the proposed ban. Whitemore owns the E-Cig Source vape shop at the Walmart plaza at 955 S. Woodland Blvd.
She said she believes the ban would hurt business and would lead to more restrictions. She said her business only sells vapes, and she said vapes help people quit smoking and are much safer than regular cigarettes.
“People should have choices,” she said. “Adults have choices.”
E-cigarettes aren’t as harmful as cigarettes but that doesn’t mean they’re safe, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“E-cigarette aerosol generally contains fewer toxic chemicals than the deadly mix of 7,000 chemicals in smoke from regular cigarettes,’ according to the CDC. “However, e-cigarette aerosol is not harmless. It can contain harmful and potentially harmful substances, including nicotine, heavy metals like lead, volatile organic compounds, and cancer-causing agents.
Studies on whether e-cigarettes can help people quit smoking have had mixed results, according to the CDC. The studies didn’t provide enough evidence to recommend using e-cigarettes as a tool to quit smoking.
― Reporter Brenno Carillo contributed to this report.