No Smoking at the Beach?  Here we go again. First it was the
health police in Santa Monica, Los Angeles and Malibu. Then the
butt-heads in Los Angeles County. Now it’s the legislature,
about to consider a bill to shield every sun worshipper
statewide from the tribulations of beach smoking, and defend
every grain of sand along the 1,100-mile coastline against
cigarette litter.  One argument for the beach ban goes like
this: Cigarette butts are a major source of litter. On cleanup
days, volunteers say they pick up an average of more than
300,000 butts along the beach. If so, that’s a powerful
argument—but against littering, not against smoking. A ban on
smoking is both over-inclusive and under-inclusive. It’s over-
inclusive because responsible smokers who properly discard their
cigarette butts do not contribute to litter. It’s under-
inclusive because irresponsible non-smokers who improperly
discard food wrappers and soda cans are major contributors to
litter. By all means, let’s keep the beaches clean. Anyone w