Assembly Panel OKs Ban on Smoking
An Assembly committee approved what would be the toughest ban on smoking in the nation, voting 7 to 1 Wednesday to prohibit cigarettes in all publicly and privately owned buildings.
The bill by Assemblyman Terry Friedman (D-Brentwood) would bar smoking in restaurants, bars and all other workplaces outside the home. The Assembly Labor Committee approved the bill despite strong opposition from tobacco industry lobbyists.
The Labor Committee is only the first of several legislative hurdles the bill must pass if it is to become law. Friedman carried the bill in past years, but he predicted it has a far better chance of winning approval this year.
The reason for the turnaround, Friedman believes, is that the federal Environmental Protection Agency declared in a recent report that secondhand smoke causes cancer.
“I don’t underestimate the special interest power of the tobacco industry,” Friedman said. “But the EPA study is going to change the politics forever.”
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