FL smoking ban not so smoke free

Publication Date: 2017-08-28

• Author:Katie LaGrone, Matthew Apthorp
• Publication:WPTV

...Just when you thought Florida's tobacco fight was old news, we've discovered a-little-known clause in smoking laws here causing both sides to light up.

It's called preemption, a fancy political term that boils to this: cities and counties across the state are completely powerless to ban smoking!...

"It's really a censorship of our democracy and it disallows communities to take control and really govern themselves," she told us recently.

Sarasota County learned about the state loophole in after a judge ruled its 5-year-long smoking ban at some parks and beaches was illegal...