Indian Rocks Beach Bans Smoking and Vaping on Public Sand

Indian Rocks Beach has banned smoking and vaping on its public beaches, with the new rule taking effect immediately after the City Commission approved it Tuesday, according to FOX 13 Tampa Bay.

The Gulf Coast city, located in Pinellas County roughly 27 miles west of Tampa and about 15 miles northwest of St. Petersburg, already restricted smoking and vaping in its public parks. The new ordinance extends those same rules to the beach.

Under city documents reviewed by Fox News Digital, people caught violating the ban could face fines of up to $500, up to 60 days in jail, or both. Officials told FOX 13 that enforcement will start with education for beachgoers before citations are issued.

Indian Rocks Beach Mayor Lan Vaughan told FOX 13 that cigarette waste and discarded vape cartridges keep turning up in the sand despite regular beach cleanups and sand-sifting equipment.

“We wanted to make our beaches family-friendly for the children, for the families, and look out after our neighbors, the turtles, the birds, and the wildlife that actually live on those beaches as well,” Vaughan said.

Vaughan said smokers can still use a designated smoking area located in the county parking lot near the beach.

Stanton Glantz, a tobacco control researcher, told Fox News Digital that secondhand smoke remains a concern outdoors, not just indoors.

“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.”

Glantz, who is based in California, said he supports the new rule, arguing people who don’t use tobacco or vape products shouldn’t have to be exposed to the chemicals they emit. He also pointed to the environmental toll of cigarette litter.

“Cigarette butts are made out of plastic, and they don’t biodegrade,” he said. “If you throw a cigarette butt in the ocean, that plastic is going to fall apart, but microplastics are going to be there for good.”

Indian Rocks Beach has about 3,600 residents, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, but its white-sand shoreline draws visitors year-round.

The city joins a growing list of Florida communities restricting smoking and vaping on public beaches and in parks. Miami Beach banned cigarette smoking and other tobacco products on its beaches and in parks starting Jan. 1, 2023, with penalties ranging from $100 to $500 or up to 60 days in jail. The city of Sanibel in Lee County approved a similar ban on smoking and vaping at public beaches and parks in March 2026.