Byline: New York Times
New York City's new anti-smoking law will go into effect Wednesday, beginning a social experiment on a grand scale that will pit increasingly militant non-smokers against more than a million smokers, some of whom view lighting up not only as a pleasure but also as a civil right.
At the center of the experiment is a risky assumption about human behavior: that enforcement can rest largely in the public's hands, that New Yorkers will persuade each other not to smoke in places where it is illegal, and as a last resort, will report violations to the city.
This cooperation will be put to a special test in the first 60 days, as the city delays enforcement to give people time to adjust and to finish drawing up the details of the law, which restricts smoking in virtually all enclosed public places, from restaurants and indoor sports arenas to hotel lobbies and open office spaces.
And while some quarters of the city are busily preparing for the restrictions - restaurants grappling with seating arrangements and hotels removing ashtrays from their front desks - the implementation of the law at first is not expected to be uniform or complete.
'Don't look for signs to go up right away,' said Dr. Stephen C. Joseph, commissioner of the city's Department of Health, which is chiefly responsible for putting the rules into effect. He added, 'We have intended that it be a self-enforcing law.'
Although six separate city agencies, including the Health Department, are authorized to cite smoking violations, Joseph said the city would play a limited role. He said agencies would check for adherence to the new law while making routine reviews of fire, health and sanitation codes or responding to specific complaints.
Owners and operators of businesses who fail to comply with the law are subject to fines of up to $100 for the first violation. Second and third violations within 12 months are subject to $200 and $500 fines, respectively, according to the law. All subsequent fines after that period are subject to $500 fines. Individuals who violate the anti-smoking law may be fined up to $50 for each offense.
In most cases, self-enforcement of the law fundamentally means that institutions, work places and business - not individuals - are more subject to the law's penalties.
For example, if people persist in smoking in the non-smoking sections of restaurants covered by the law, it is unlikely that a city inspector would be nearby to cite the individual. But complaints about a restaurant or work place that does not follow the law are likely to lead to citations and fines.
In New York City, enforcement of the new smoking restrictions is being delayed because accompanying regulations are not in place, Joseph said. Without regulations, some specifics of the law are unclear and therefore impossible to enforce.
New Yorkers are preparing as best as they can for the city's first comprehensive anti-smoking law that at once will try to reflect and enforce a changing attitude about smoking in public.
Last week, a panel of city officials, physicians and corporate executives met with business leaders from throughout the city to discuss the law's implications and how to comply with it.
The law requires employers to develop a smoking policy to meet a bevy of smoking restrictions at the work place. Included in the law is a provision that provides employees, at their request, a smoke-free zone eight feet in diameter.
Although the law does not ban smoking in most cases, it does try to eliminate situations in which non- smokers would be subjected to smoking in enclosed public places. For example, smoking will be prohibited in all public restrooms and public hallways, which have long been refuges for smokers. It will be permitted in hotel lobbies but not at the front desks.
The law will also prohibit smoking in large retail stores that can accommodate more than 150 people or have more than 15 employees. Smoking is much restricted in restuarants with more than 50 indoor seats, excluding bar seating. Smaller restaurants and stores are only included if their operators choose to cooperate.
At the heart of the law is the belief that exposure to tobacco smoke, whether exhaled by a smoker or simply emited from a cigarette, cigar or pipe is health-threatening. This 'passive' exposure, according to city health officials, has been linked to acute respiratory and cardiovasular diseases.
Tobacco industry spokesmen say that passive smoke may be a nuisance but is not harmful. A spokesman for the Philip Morris Cos., Steven H. Weiss, said the company had received dozens of calls from New York smokers who are 'very, very angry' about the law.
The company is mailing more than 81,000 pamphlets detailing New York's smoking law to city businesses and 225,000 booklets to households.
Angela T. Mickel, coordinator of the Tobacco Free Young America, a Washington-based anti-smoking research group, said laws that restrict smoking are usually successful because non-smokers outnumber smokers three to one. In New York, about 30 percent of adults smoke, compared to the national average of 26 percent, she said.
