Smoking on the beaches of Maui is likely a thing of the past. Last night, the Maui County Council voted 8-0, with one member excused, in favor of law that will ban smoking on county beaches, parks and recreational facilities.

Mayor Alan Arakawa has 10 days to approve the measure.

Maui County includes the islands of Maui, Kahoolawe, Lānai, Molokini and parts of Molokai.

If Arakawa signs the measure, Maui would join the counties of Hawai’i, Honolulu and Oahu as places where smoking is no longer permitted at public beaches.

Over 400 letters of testimony were produced in just over 40 days. Supporters of the bill focused almost exclusively on the trash left by cigarette butts as reasons for its passage.

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Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.