Smokers Light Into Ban Proposed for Stadium

Smokers opposing a ban on lighting up at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium had their say Thursday--some while puffing on cigarettes--but, when the meeting of the Stadium Authority Board came to a close, little had been decided.

A subcommittee, appointed to study the proposed ban, produced only one consensus: The idea is controversial.

Thirteen pro-smoking, anti-ban speakers defended their right to enjoy cigars and cigarettes in the privacy of a seat at the stadium. Ten who spoke in favor of the ban said such a seat is never completely private and that “secondhand” smoke is harmful to nonsmokers.

Leading those who favor the ban was Mike Gotch, a stadium board member and former San Diego city councilman. Gotch wrote the proposal, which would limit smoking at the stadium to concourses and walkways. He also favors removing cigarette advertising from the end-zone billboards.

If the measure passes--and it won’t be voted on by the stadium board any earlier than its Jan. 5 meeting, and then would have to be approved by the City Council--San Diego’s would be the first outdoor stadium in the country to have such a ban.

Those endorsing the ban included Dr. David Burns, medical director of respiratory therapy at UC San Diego Medical Center. Burns said the effects of secondhand, or “involuntary,” smoking have been documented by the U.S. surgeon general and can, like smoking itself, lead to lung cancer.

Burns was disputed by several people, some of whom approached the microphone with cigarette in hand, saying he simply had his facts wrong, although they offered no evidence.

“Some of these people simply refuse to accept that their behavior--smoking--is causing problems for others,” Burns said. “And why is it that nonsmokers are being asked to solve this problem? Seventy-five percent of the people in California are nonsmokers. Their health is being compromised by smokers. Why should nonsmokers have the obligation to find separate seating for themselves at stadiums, restaurants, wherever?”

Rosemary Looters came to the meeting wearing her Padres T-shirt and Padres cap. With gravelly voice, she spoke out against the ban and quoted an Australian medical report that she said “proves a slob who eats junk food can be expected to live just as long as a fitness freak.”

Dave Brenton, who said he represented the Arizona-based Smokers’ Rights Alliance, called upon the stadium’s individual tenants to settle the matter and said the board has “no legal right” to try to impose the ban.

“The surgeon general’s report (on involuntary smoking) is full of conflicting evidence,” Brenton said. “There’s not a scrap of laboratory evidence present in that book. This is hysteria! If you want to improve air quality at the stadium, get rid of the parking lot. Exhaust from automobiles does a hell of a lot more damage.”

Several speakers, including City Councilman Ron Roberts, suggested compromise in the form of more no-smoking sections. One or two such sections are now provided at each stadium event. Gotch, who favors only a total ban, was frequently singled out for criticism by the pro-smoking crowd.

“I didn’t propose a total ban to then have to fall halfway back,” said Gotch, who, as a councilman, helped push through the city’s no-smoking ordinance, covering offices and restaurants. “The effects of secondary smoke are indisputable. When we consider what’s fair, we should simply eliminate smoking from areas of seating. Period.”

Debbie Kelley, a spokeswoman for the American Lung Assn., called Thursday’s meeting a victory. “Anytime we’ve worked with agencies in the past, the inevitable appointment of a committee is one of the first steps toward recognizing and solving the problem,” she said.

Kelley said those who dispute the evidence that smoking is dangerous are “like the Flat Earth Society. They can be sitting on top of 40,000 studies documenting the health effects of smoking and still say it hasn’t been proven. We sometimes feel like scientists from NASA locked in debate with the Flat Earth Society, which, no matter how much data you provide, still says the Earth isn’t round.”

Edwin Lerner approached the board smoking a cigar. He said he is tired of being told what to do at Padres and Chargers games.

“I used to bring a cooler to the stadium packed with Bloody Marys,” he said. “Now they tell me I can’t do that. I can’t smoke my cigar at the Sports Arena. Now they want to tell me I can’t smoke it here. They say Minnesota passed one of these bans (at the Metrodome in Minneapolis). Need I remind you that Minnesota voted for Walter Mondale?”