Riverside County supervisors cite health insurance costs in approving the rule.
Jump to full article: Los Angeles Times, 2003-12-18
Author: Seema Mehta, Times Staff Writer
Intro: Hoping to stem escalating insurance costs, Riverside County has banned the hiring of sheriff's deputies who smoke and may expand the prohibition to all hires in county government.
Riverside County is the latest in a growing number of municipalities across the nation to hire only nonsmokers, arguing that they are less likely to get cancer, heart disease and other ailments linked to tobacco.
Most of the bans focus on law enforcement officers and firefighters who receive the most generous insurance and workers' compensation coverage because of their potentially dangerous jobs.
Riverside County's decision this week has raised concerns from civil libertarians. . . .
On the Internet, many help-wanted ads for police officers across the nation include not smoking as a requirement, next to a high-school diploma and a driver's license.
With the rules have come controversy. This year, Fall River, Mass., Officer Wayne H. Jeffrey was fired after an anonymous letter turned him in for smoking while off-duty at a party.
The Massachusetts Supreme Court has said such actions are legal.
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