Nearly Two-Thirds of Angelenos Favor Restaurant Smoking Ban

Nearly two-thirds of Los Angeles residents support the idea of banning all smoking in the city’s restaurants, according to a new Times poll.

The survey of 1,506 adults, conducted May 27 to 30, found that 64% of those surveyed generally are in favor of such a ban while only 33% oppose the idea. Fifty-three percent were strongly in favor.

The City Council is scheduled to vote today on a proposal by Councilman Marvin Braude to enforce such a prohibition in the city’s restaurants.

The lawmakers will also consider several less stringent alternatives. One would exempt open-air restaurants, dance clubs and discos. Another would increase the area that must be designated as nonsmoking from 50% to 60% and, eventually, to 70%.

The American Cancer Society and several other health organizations favor Braude’s stricter proposal--citing statistics that say secondhand smoke kills more than 53,000 people a year in the United States.

Restaurateurs have argued, however, that the smoking ban would kill their already depressed businesses.

The Times poll indicated that the outright ban is favored by majorities of all major demographic and geographic groups across the city, including young and old, liberals, conservatives, Democrats, Republicans, men and women. The survey has an overall margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.