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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Friday, March 16, 2001

Island Voices
Cigarette smokers trashing Waikiki

By C. Richard Fassler
Vice chairman, Manoa Neighborhood Board

"Waikiki Beach is a giant ashtray!"

So observed a Canadian visitor, whom my wife and I recently met near Kapi'olani Park.

"And," he went on to say, "once I've placed my towel on top of all those cigarette butts, the guy next to me is going to blow smoke in my face. In the Bahamas, the beaches are immaculate. Don't you guys care about good health?"

We wanted to see this for ourselves, so we walked up toward the Duke Kahanamoku statue. Sure enough, without digging, we spotted 15 butts in a towel-sized area. And there, not far away, were two sunbathers sending up clouds of smoke.

I mentioned this to a friend.

"True," he said. "That's why I take my granddaughter to Sans Souci, but there's plenty of butts there, too. When you think about the saliva she touches, it's really pretty gross. And the sand is gritty and dirty.

"Why's that?" I asked.

"Where do you think the ash goes?" he replied. "I'm a smoker, but I don't smoke on the beach. You can even smell the stuff."

The City and County spends half-a-million dollars a year for machines to sift our beaches each night. But, from what I could observe, there seems to be little effect. And what do you do about the ashes in the sand? Or the smoke in the air?

The situation has gotten so bad, the Hilton Hawaiian Village cleans the adjacent beach area. The beach is publicly owned, but management feels that unless it performs its own maintenance (at considerable expense), it may lose its guests.

Most people don't realize that Hanauma Bay has been under a smoke-free city ordinance since 1995. Shouldn't we extend this designation to Waikiki?

According to Hanauma Bay manager Alan Hong, the ban has been highly successful. Before the ordinance went into effect, at any given time, his volunteers would spot up to 50 people smoking. That number has been reduced to a few, and they are gently reminded that smoking is only allowed in the upper portion of the park. The worst perpetrators — male Asian tourists — have been among the most cooperative, he pointed out.

The publicity surrounding a bold action in favor of strengthening Hawai'i's reputation would attract a growing legion of nonsmokers (and many smokers) who want to breathe fresh, clean air on their vacations.