Tobacco Documents Online

TiHf LCS,kI:LtsFS DAILY JOURNAL 1'aednesdaY, October 10, 198.4 L.A. Council Acts To Limit Smoking At Places of Work 10-1 Vote for Measure Sy;KA71fl1EEN F. JACKSON The I:os , Angeles City Council on Tuesday joined a growing list of cities that aeknowh edge the rights of non-smokers, tentatively approving an ordinance that wlll, regulate smoking tn the workplace. After two hours of debate on three recom- mended ordlnancesihattook a year to~dratt; tlte council chose a middle grotmd! between banning smoking in all public places and placing the burden on employees to ask their bosses to solve , problems arisUtg from aec- at>&band smoke. • on a 10-1 vote; the lawmakers backed a plan by Councllntan Marvin Braudethat wlll require employers to implement written smoking' policies for all open areas where taorethan four employees work. The ordinance, ,pattermed after laws 1n San Ftancisco, and San Diego, must come back to the council 1 for a second' vote nex ' week and then : be signed by the mayor before it will become effective Citing research, statistics on the health hazards of second-hand smoke, Braude ar- gued that the council should enact an ordl- nance that covers the workplace because it Is an area where people have the least choice : about breathing in sldestream smoke:. "My proposal is a pragmatic, practical, realistic one that we can adopt today,"'sald' Braude; a non-smoker. "All~the non-smokers have gotten together and said the workplace is the most important because you ha ve to igo there." The new law;, which Is scheduled to bet eome effective four months atter IU is signed, will require employers to ban smoking in the workplace If' even one non.smoking em- ployee is not satisfied with other arrange- ments to mitigate seeund-hand smoke. Employers who refuse to comply with the regulations face a f500 finc, six months inn jall or both. Mayor Tom lti.,dloy, who is out of, the country, has presaously endorsed limits on smoking in public p'aces: A spokesman had no comment 1luesday on whether the mayor would sign thebili approved bythe council. Debatein Council In, other cft°es;, particularly San Ftan- cisco, proposed smoking restrictions have generated hard oppositlon from the tobacco industry: But despite the faet that Los An- geles is the second largest city in the nation, there has been little lobbying against the or- dinance from cigarette makers. Representatives from the city's business community, however, joined two coun- v `irt cn w opposing the ordinance on 1ues- ~L ti. C:.:wn%:lman Arthur K. Snyder, a smoker; arg i:,d that the law was unenforceable. He nt~:-:d ith at the new law provldes for. two city attorney investigators and a law clerk, but dors r.ot provlde additional city lawyers to harrdle presecutuiona: .•I thir-k what it's going to lead to is:selech th e enforeement," said Snyder. He said the council would do betterto seek legislation on the federal or state level than add to: the patchwork of smokfagJaws being enacted by municlpalltles. Councilman Davldl Cunningham joined. Snyder in opposing smoking',regulations. But sineeCunningham was not present when the council voted on the ordittance, Snyder cast the lone no vote:. Voting for the ordinance were Cotm• eilmetnbers i Hal Bernson, Ernani Bernardf,. Zev Yaroslavsky, John Ferraro, Joan Milke Flores;, Joy Picus, Howard Finn„ Joel Wachs, Peggy Stevenson, and Braude. Bernardi and Bernson voted for'Braude's plan after the coundE, turned down alterna- tlVes drafted by the,.tAwo councilmen. Bernar- dlts' proposal to impose a total ban was the most restrictive: Bernson's' recommenda- tion to ! ban smoking in some public plaees, and leave it up to ~ employees to deal with i smoking ib the worsplhce was the least re- strictive. Chamber of Commerce llpposed. Greg, Fletcher,, speaking for the Los An+ geles Chamber of' Commerce, ttrgedd the council to reject Braude's proposal, saying that smoking in the workplace Is ~°essen- tlally a ltahor-m'anagemenYconcern.•' Fletcher rlso said the 1aw would be "dis- ruptive, and economically burdensome," on businesses. The council also heard comments from ~ a doctor who disagreed with many of his col- leagues that sidestream smoke presents a health hazard to non-smokers . "There: is no valid scientific data that demonstrates that second-hand smoke is hazardous to one's health,"' Said Albert' N4r den, a professor at UCLA medical school! He said he was upset "by the scare tactics that are being used to cause fear and anxiety" among non-smoking workers. But Braude and several others membem See Paqe 20 - SMCDK'I Smoking Limits Continued from Page li on the council disputed all of the argument against the law. They pointed to other Cal fornia cities where they said.laws have rc portrdly been working well. As to enforceability. Yaroslavsky said tt orditsance would bebasicallg• self-enforcin_ "Most people are going to abide by, the la• becuase it'.s the law," he said. Addressing', the concerns expressed'. b businesses;. Braude said the law will relie,~ pressure on businesses rather thancreaten burden becattse It will give employers co crete guidelines to accommodate employee who smoke and those who donot. Braude also said''he did not anticipate Lh employers would have to spend large surr of'tnoney to alter work'ar+easto satisfy ac smokers. He acknowledged that the law gives o non-smoking employee the power to ha smoking banned in an entire work area,, t predicted that would happen only rarelb•. Inspeaking,to reporters after the cour vote, Braude at first appeared uncert:, when asked whether the provisions of', ` law will apply to public offices. After a, moments ot consideration, he said he Ileved the ordinance would apply to all p Ilc buildings to the city. He did, however;, express doubt tha~ could be enforced in the offices of the ci 15 council members. "11he intent of the o nance if+thatit will apply,"said Braude a practical matter, it will be up to the i: vidual council member." NN-5