Popular beach town cracks down on risky behavior as violators face fines, jail time

A popular beach community in Florida is cracking down on smoking and vaping, joining other cities across the state that have adopted similar restrictions.The ban in Indian Rocks Beach took effect immediately after the City Commission voted Tuesday to approve the measure, according to FOX 13 Tampa Bay.The city already had smoking and vaping restrictions in place at public parks.The new ordinance extends those rules to its public beaches.VISITORS FACE IMMEDIATE FINES FOR MAKING ONE BIG MISTAKE IN CROWDED DESTINATIONBeachgoers are now prohibited from smoking cigarettes or using e-cigarettes and vaping devices on public beaches in Indian Rocks Beach.Officials told FOX 13 that enforcement will initially focus on educating beach visitors about the new rules before issuing citations.The Indian Rocks Beach City Commission approved new restrictions prohibiting cigarette smoking and the use of vaping devices on its public beaches.

(Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)City documents reviewed by Fox News Digital show violations could carry penalties of up to $500 in fines, up to 60 days in jail or both.Stanton Glantz, a tobacco control researcher and longtime advocate for smoke-free policies, told Fox News Digital that secondhand exposure can still occur outdoors."If you're in the slipstream downwind from a cigarette or an e-cigarette, you can get very high concentrations, very high exposures," Glantz said."So it's just like being downstream of a chimney."VACATION HOT SPOT TELLS TOURISTS IN SKIMPY BEACHWEAR TO COVER UP OR FACE STEEP FINESThe California-based expert said he supports the recent ban, arguing that people who do not use the products should not have to be exposed to the chemicals such products emit.He also pointed to the environmental impact of cigarette waste, noting that cigarette filters are a source of plastic pollution."Cigarette butts are made out of plastic, and they don't biodegrade," he said.

"If you throw a cigarette butt in the ocea...