HULL, Mass. (AP) — It’s still legal to smoke on Nantasket Beach.

The Hull town meeting on Tuesday rejected a proposal by the Hull Beach Management Committee to fine people for smoking or for discarding cigarette butts on the beach after Police Chief Richard Billings said he didn’t have the manpower to enforce such a ban.

The Patriot Ledger reports that committee Chairwoman Rhoda Kanet countered that prohibiting smoking in bars was once considered unenforceable but is now considered normal.

But Billings says he will soon be down to 14 full-time officers who have more important things to worry about.

Some other New England communities have barred smoking on public beaches.

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Information from: The Patriot Ledger

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