No Smoking

What has been the custom in many public places is now on its way to becoming the law. The Los Angeles City Council has taken the first step toward banning or restricting smoking in enclosed areas of public facilities. Final enactment of the ordinance, still a month or more away, will mean that frequently seen signs that passively thank people for not smoking will be replaced by signs that flatly forbid smoking. The restriction will carry teeth. Smokers who light up where they shouldn’t will be subject to fines of up to $250.

The draft ordinance, a compromise proposed by Councilman Marvin Braude, stops short of the complete ban on smoking in restaurants that Beverly Hills recently enacted. Instead, restaurants with more than 50 seats would be required to designate at least half their eating areas for nonsmokers; bars and nightclubs would be excepted.

A complete ban would take effect in public areas of retail stores, with an exception made for stores specializing in selling tobacco products; in enclosed sports arenas, and in service lines in such places as banks. No smoking would be allowed in areas usually occupied by children in private schools up through the high-school level. Public schools have long been covered by such a ban.

Smoking would be outlawed in public areas of libraries, museums, art galleries and polling places. At least half the space in waiting areas at airline, train and bus terminals would have to be set aside for nonsmokers.

This is a tough and practical ordinance. It reflects medical evidence, endorsed by U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, that the health of nonsmokers can be impaired by inhaling the byproducts produced by smokers. Smoking-related diseases, such as cancer and coronary disease, are high among the major causes of premature deaths in the United States. The valuable purpose of imposing restrictions on smoking in public places is to lessen the chances that nonsmokers will be victimized by the behavior of others.