(Image source from: The New York Times)

A new public opinion poll released on Friday finds 75 percent of New Jerseyans oppose smoking and vaping on the state's public beaches.

The Poll by Fairleigh Dickinson University comes a week after the state Legislature passed a bill to prohibit beach smoking.

The bill, which is now on the desk of Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, permits towns to set aside designated smoking areas of up to 15 percent of the beach.

Merely the bill failed to answer a key question that has stymied former endeavors to ban smoking on New Jersey's shores: Who will enforce it?

"There's consensus on this issue among men and women, the young and old and Republicans, Democrats and independents," said Krista Jenkins, a political science professor and director of the poll. "They are all saying unmistakably to get those butts off our beaches!"

According to the bill, smokers would be permitted to light up in parking lots. Fines for violators would start at $250 for a first discourtesy and reach $1,000 for a third offense.

But the bill does not define whether lifeguards, personnel (including special police), or someone else should be in charge of enforcing the prohibition.

The state Department of Environmental Protection is to "provide assistance" to local communities "within the limits of resources available to the department for this purpose."

According to the American Nonsmokers Rights Foundation, across the nation, more than 300 coastal communities have prohibited smoking on their beaches. Some of the state's most touristy beaches on the Jersey shore, hitherto forbid smoking including Ocean City, Spring Lake, Belmar, and Seaside Heights.

The opinion poll of 926 adults was done from May 16-21. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

By Sowmya Sangam