Wareham Board of Health is moving to ban smoking on the town's beaches.

According to Wicked Local, the Wareham Board of Health passed a preliminary move to prohibit the consumption of tobacco products on public beaches, parks, playgrounds and public recreational areas. The board says that they were acting on a request from a town-based anti-littering organization called "Don't Trash Wareham".

A final and affirmative vote is expected to be taken at its next meeting scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 21, at 4 p.m. in Town Hall.  If the motion passes, the new policy will take effect January 1, 2016.  It would expand on existing town health laws that already restrict using tobacco products in public buildings and anywhere on school properties.

“Don’t Trash Wareham” campaign volunteers collected more than 140 pounds of litter during the past three weekends on public beaches.  Over 4500 cigarette butts were collected during those cleanups, prompting the request for the expansion of the tobacco regulations.  Organizers compared the effort to the ban on dogs on beaches.  Describing the no smoking policy as a "self policing" effort.

Additional Reporting by Kiah Heron

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