Tobacco.org

Smoking Task Force: Clearing The Air On A Slippery Slope  

The inaugural meeting of the West Hollywood outdoor smoking ordinance task force got under way with a clearing of the air and ended up on a slippery slope.

City Manager Paul Arevalo, chairing the first meeting, cast the task before the panel of anti-smoking advocates, residents and commercial interests as advisory, saying, "I've been charged with bringing the city council an ordinance regarding smoking, and that's what I'm going to do."

Mr. Arevalo said his direction from council was to use Los Angeles' recently passed ordinance as a foundation for WeHo's, "Recognizing it's not a done deal yet, but we'll be using that."

Business leaders, however, made it clear they opposed any ordinance at all, calling into question the ordinance's rationale, provenance and warning of a "slippery slope" leading to a citywide outdoor smoking ban which would include multi-unit housing complexes.

Jump to full article »