GLENDALE, Calif. -- For Glendale's smokers, Thursday was a real
drag.
Following the lead of neighboring Burbank and green trailblazers
Calabasas and Santa Monica, Glendale began its ban on smoking in
hallways of apartment complexes and in public areas -- including
parks, parking lots and parking structures, and even standing in
line to use the ATM.
But in a city, just north of downtown Los Angeles, dotted with
European-style cafes that offer outdoor seating and a significant
population from countries where smoking is a social custom, the
issue has some residents fired up.
"Where should we go to smoke, in the desert?" said Ruben
Kesayan, a hot-dog vendor who enjoyed a cigarette with his coffee
Thursday in front of Glendale Central Library -- and was breaking
the new law. "They are taking away our freedom, telling us what to
do. That's not America."
A defiant Norman Merrill, 65, of Glendale agreed and even evoked
German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche to illustrate his point.
"Distrust all in whom the impulse to punish is powerful," he
said. "Until cigarettes are banned and selling them is unlawful,
smoking will not stop."
City officials argue that the rights of nonsmokers need to be
respected. They encourage residents to quit, especially at a time
when study after study points to the health risks of smoking.
"We wanted to strike a balance, not go as far as Calabasas, but
take it further than Santa Monica," Glendale City Councilman Bob
Yousefian said. "We want to take baby steps. We want to modify
behavior, but you can't do it all in one swing."
The council adopted the law last month, mimicking a similar ban
in Burbank, where restrictions began last year. As of Oct. 19,
there had been more than 800 citations issued there, according to
the Burbank Police Department.
Calabasas became the first city in the country to snuff out
smoking in public -- and then took it further this year by
regulating smoking in rental-apartment housing, the second such
measure in the state. Santa Monica followed by banning smoking in
parks.
In Glendale, the smoking issue raised another: The city's
smokers are mostly Armenians, even though 20 percent or less of the
city's residents smoke, Yousefian said. At least 40 percent of the
city's 200,000 residents claim Armenian heritage, according to the
latest Census Bureau figures.
"I've gone to Texas, where there are no Armenians, but there
are plenty of smokers among Texans," he said.
Still, he added, "When you are dealing with people who come
from countries where there is no stigma to smoking, they bring
their habits with them."
City officials said they are giving smokers a grace period to
learn about all the places where smoking is banned. But by spring,
warnings, then citations of $100 for first-time violators, could be
issued.
At least one restaurant owner said he will fight the ban, adding
that in a bad economy, following the restrictions will snuff out
much of his business.
"My business depends on smokers," said Ara Kalfayan, owner of
the Phoenician Restaurant, which specializes in Lebanese cuisine.
The ban restricts outdoor restaurant smoking, except in
designated areas.
In September, the Los Angeles City Council adopted more limits
on smoking in public, including at farmers markets. L.A. was among
the first cities to ban smoking in some public places, starting
with elevators and buses in 1964 and expanding to grocery stores,
offices, restaurants and parts of parks.
Nurse educator Mary Ann Wieland, who teaches smoking-cessation
classes at Kaiser Permanente-Panorama City, said some of those who
are trying to quit say the bans help, but the outcomes are mixed.
"The bans may push people closer to being ready to quit," she
said. "But I had a man from Burbank come in who said he wanted to
quit because he couldn't smoke there. He came to one class and
never came back. A person has to be ready to quit, to be willing."
Sitting outside a Starbucks on Thursday, Kim Cissel, who smokes
while he composes music, said cigarettes are his only bad habit.
And he takes offense that the city tells him not to smoke outdoors.
"I think it's a new form of fascism," he said. "The smoke
disappears into the air. You'd have to be a real jerk to blow smoke
in somebody's face."
susan.abramdailynews.com
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c.2008 Los Angeles Daily News