Proposed Smoking Ban Prompts Ire
The Clinton Administration has forwarded to the FBI threatening letters received by the Labor Department in response to its proposal to restrict smoking in the nation’s workplaces.
“We got a few letters that were over the line,” Joe Dear, head of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, said Monday.
He said OSHA, a division of the Labor Department, received an estimated 100,000 correspondences after proposing in March new regulations that would require employers to provide separately ventilated rooms for smokers or ban smoking altogether. Dear said the contents of 12 letters was considered threatening enough to call in the FBI.
Asked whether any of the letters contained death threats, Dear responded, “We interpreted them that way.” He did not provide a text of any of the letters.
The volume of correspondence and the irate tone of some pieces demonstrate the level of emotion stirred by the proposed smoking regulations.
The agency will begin protracted hearings on the proposal today. It could be several years before final regulations are issued.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
