A Cloudy Forecast for Smokers

By Anastasia Toufexis

Pity the poor smoker. If he began puffing away as a teenager, he was probably forced to light up in the high school bathroom, away from the forbidding glares of teachers and parents. He grew up, got a job, raised a family and in general became a responsible, upstanding citizen. But he still smokes. There he is, sitting in a restaurant or waiting in a movie line or getting his shoes shined, and he pulls out a cigarette. Suddenly a stranger appears, tugs at his elbow and says ever so sweetly, "Thank you for not smoking."

Though adult smokers are not reduced quite yet to heading for the nearest high school bathroom, the places where they can legally light up are dwindling. Thirty-nine states and numerous localities now have ordinances against smoking on public transportation and in public places, including schools, hospitals, auditoriums, theaters and government buildings. Two weeks ago, New York City Mayor Ed Koch (who quit smoking in 1952) proposed what he termed the most stringent antismoking regulations in the nation. If enacted, Koch's law would forbid smoking in enclosed public spaces, such as taxis, stores and rest rooms (there goes that refuge).

Even the proverbial smoke-filled room so beloved by politicians is endangered. Democratic Congressman James Scheuer of New York last week introduced the Non-Smokers Protection Act of 1986, which would snuff out smoking in federal buildings across the country, including the corridors and committee rooms of Congress. Though the legislation will probably not pass this term, Scheuer, who has five no-smoking signs (one in four languages) in his office, is determined to keep trying. "There are many federal workers, including myself, who are sick and tired of having to toil in the thick veil of hazy and noxious smoke," he declares.

Many hotels and restaurants are not waiting for the law to prod them into accommodating nonsmokers. The Atlanta Marriott Marquis reserves three floors of rooms for abstainers, the Las Vegas Hilton one floor, with two more planned for later this year. Last month Denver's popular Cafe Giovanni banned puffing entirely in its dining room; so far only one group of patrons has walked out when informed of the edict. Tobacco devotees are finding the going tougher in more intimate settings as well. Ads for housemates and the personal columns routinely rebuff smokers. "People don't even have ashtrays in their homes anymore," moans Joyce Hernandez, a secretary in Montvale, N.J., who quit last year after attending a dinner party at which she was forced to sneak a puff in, yes, the bathroom.

Passions have never run higher about where and when smokers may light up. "There's a new tyrannical majority that wants to deprive the rest of us of our rights," charges New York City Television Reporter David Diaz, a pack-a- day man. Replies ABC-TV Washington Correspondent Sam Donaldson, an ex- smoker who has been zealously lobbying the White House to ban smoking at press conferences: "I don't think smokers have any rights when it comes to a collision of smokers' vs. nonsmokers' wishes."

Most Americans apparently agree with Donaldson. In a 1985 Gallup poll, 62% of tobacco users and 85% of abstainers thought smokers should refrain from lighting up when nonsmokers are around. That agreement, say tobacco foes, is the result of well-publicized, though controversial, studies on the dangers of secondhand smoke. Explains John Banzhof of the Washington-based Action on Smoking and Health (ASH): "The burning issue in cigarette smoking now is not the harm you can do to yourself but the harm to others."

The antismoking battle has moved from public places to the workplace, where many companies have designated no-smoking areas for their employees. Some firms have found the cost of juggling desks too high and banned smoking entirely. Pacific Northwest Bell, with headquarters in Seattle, forbade the practice when it learned that remodeling would run $60,000. Other firms have reached the same conclusion after prolonged hassles. According to Sandy Robins, director of labor relations for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Jersey, the company "tried separating smokers from nonsmokers. We tried time restrictions. We had the air-conditioning system cleaned. We tried smokeless ashtrays. Nothing worked."

Some employers, convinced that tobacco users take too many sick days and raise insurance premiums too high, have taken the extreme step of hiring only nonsmokers. Westlake Community Hospital in Melrose Park, Ill., has had no dearth of job applicants. In fact, says Bruce Nagel, director of human resources, "we've had people say, 'I want to work here because of your stand on smoking.' " But other job seekers are not so happy. Amy Lipson, a smoker, filed a complaint with New York State's division of human rights after she was turned down for a position at Fortunoff's, a department store in Westbury. "In general, smokers are a self-indulgent group and selfish people, who ignore the rules against smoking and could endanger themselves and others," testified Company President Alan Fortunoff at a recent hearing. Comments like Fortunoff's only inflame puffers. "I know not smoking is the best thing, but I don't want anyone else telling me when to give it up," declares Norma Tevelow of Union County, N.J. "I'm a grownup."

Smokers might take heart from, of all people, U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop. A vehement campaigner against smoking, Koop released a study last week that among other things detailed what other governments in other times have done. In 16th century Japan, according to Koop, tobacco users were jailed, while in 17th century China anyone possessing the offending weed could be beheaded. All things considered, the restrictions against smoking today hardly seem dire at all.

With reporting by Patricia Delaney/Washington and Edmund Newton/New York