A ‘Tapering-Off’ Solution

The Orange County Board of Supervisors, like a smoker wrestling with the urge to quit, decided to “taper off” rather than enact regulations on smoking throughout the unincorporated county area. Its action fell short of what is really needed.

The county board did decide to strengthen its present law, which bans smoking in all areas frequented by the public in county-owned buildings, except where specially designated, by extending the no-smoking rules to work areas in all county buildings. That was progress. But it left it up to the private work sector to adopt voluntary restrictions, warning that it would evaluate that voluntary effort in six months and enact a strict smoking ban if it wasn’t satisfied. The warning is fine, but we wonder if it will be ignored by smokers like the health warning that goes on every pack of cigarettes.

The voluntary option, pushed by Supervisor Bruce Nestande and passed by a 3-2 vote, was a complete reversal of his strong position several months ago. Then, in proposing rules to curb smoking in restaurants, private offices and other workplaces, as Laguna Beach did, he asked correctly whether it made sense to suggest that “ . . . one smoking situation is more or less of a health hazard than another?”

The answer to that is obvious. It doesn’t. And that reply is backed with medical studies and facts that show that non-smokers are indeed exposed to the health hazards of second-hand smoke.

The American Lung Assn. says 34 million Americans are sensitive to tobacco smoke and medical studies have shown that the lungs of older non-smokers who have been consistently exposed to tobacco smoke function differently from those that haven’t. When public officials face facts such as those and enact strict smoking ordinances, they aren’t being busybodies. They’re responding to a serious public health issue. Even smokers recognize that. Surveys have shown that most smokers, rather than opposing strict smoking regulations, agree that smoking should be controlled in public places. And most smokers are cooperative and observe no-smoking rules.

Other communities, including Irvine, Brea, Orange, Tustin, Costa Mesa and Newport Beach, are also considering smoking regulations. They should look to the tougher approach taken by Laguna Beach, which last February became the first city in the county to regulate smoking citywide, in private as well as public places. They should not follow the county Board of Supervisors, which recognized the problem but decided to protect one group from a health hazard and ignore another group.