Wilson OKs Workplace Smoking Ban : Tobacco: Law covering offices and restaurants will take effect Jan. 1 unless voters approve industry- sponsored Prop. 188. Governor says he is opposed to the initiative.

SAN FRANCISCO —  Gov. Pete Wilson, declaring that tobacco smoke is toxic pollution, signed a sweeping statewide smoking prohibition Thursday, and announced that he opposes a November ballot initiative that would repeal the tough new ban.

“We’re taking an action that is good for everyone’s health,” said Wilson, who signed the bill at his San Francisco office, and in doing so bucked some political allies. Looking on were the bill’s author, Assemblyman Terry B. Friedman (D-Brentwood), and several doctors and others who fought for nearly two years for its passage.

The measure bans smoking in most enclosed workplaces, from restaurants and offices to factories and most warehouses. It gives California one of the toughest statewide anti-smoking laws in the nation.

The ban will go into effect Jan. 1--unless California voters approve a pro-tobacco industry initiative on the November ballot.

That initiative, Proposition 188, is sponsored by Philip Morris U.S.A., the nation’s largest tobacco company. If it passes, the initiative would supersede Friedman’s bill, and permit smoking in restaurants and most other buildings.

After signing Friedman’s bill, Wilson said he opposes the Philip Morris initiative. Wilson added, however, that he will not spend money to defeat it.

“I will say that I am against it, but obviously I have something else that I will be doing,” said Wilson, who is battling Democratic Treasurer Kathleen Brown in a tight reelection race.

Describing standards set forth in the November initiative as “much, much weaker” than those in Friedman’s bill, Wilson said “the public, left to (its) own devices, would support the legislation that I just signed.”

Brown also opposes Proposition 188. In an interview this month, she said she favored the Friedman restrictions.

Jack Nicholl, a Los Angeles political consultant heading the campaign against the initiative, hailed Wilson’s opposition to Proposition 188 as “very important.”

“It eliminates this partisan quality, if there was any,” Nicholl said.

Lee Stitzenberger, the consultant representing Philip Morris, tried to put the best spin on the governor’s opposition by saying he was heartened that Wilson would not actively campaign against the initiative.

“The fact that a politician is for or against anything in this state is just about meaningless,” Stitzenberger said.

Stitzenberger said the campaign in favor of Proposition 188 will revolve around what he and the initiative’s sponsor believe is “a reasonable solution to a problem,” by giving business “some degree of choice.”

The initiative would let business owners decide whether to permit smoking. Businesses that allow smoking would have to provide ventilation, though standards set forth in Proposition 188 are not designed to reduce health risks from tobacco smoke.

So far, Philip Morris is alone among major tobacco companies in its support of Proposition 188. Philip Morris spent $491,000 gathering signatures to place the measure on the ballot. Stitzenberger said he has received no other pledges of money from other tobacco companies.

By signing the indoor workplace smoking ban, Wilson went against some allies, including the California Manufacturer’s Assn.

But the governor said Friedman’s bill will create “a better environment for California business,” and predicted that it will reduce fire insurance premiums, workers’ compensation claims, health care costs, absenteeism and cleaning bills.

He said he based his decision on national health studies showing that secondhand smoke results in 53,000 premature deaths annually. The ban, he said, will free “California’s workers from the toxic pollution of secondhand smoke, pollution that no one should be forced to suffer.”

Friedman’s bill is aimed at protecting the health of workers by prohibiting smoking in enclosed workplaces. Violation of the prohibition could result in a $100 fine.

The measure includes a handful of exemptions, such as the cabs of trucks, medical research facilities investigating the effects of smoking, and movie sets or theatrical productions where smoking is part of the script.

In a concession to the tourist industry, Friedman agreed to allow hotel owners to permit smoking in most guest rooms, hotel lobbies and banquet facilities so long as no food is being served.

The bill also will permit smoking in bars and card clubs, but directs state health experts to draft safe standards for tobacco smoke exposure by 1997. If no standards can be developed, or if bar owners cannot comply with them, smoking would be phased out in bars by the turn of the century.

The bill retains a provision allowing cities and counties to impose tougher smoking bans. Several municipalities have restricted smoking in outdoor stadiums, and those local ordinances would remain in effect.