
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, March 12, 1991                   TAG: 9103120319
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

MAYOR BLASTS LAW THAT FORCED SMOKING POLICY

Salem Mayor Jim Taliaferro said Monday that while he does not object to city administration invoking a ban on tobacco use by firefighters and police officers, he does object to a state workers' compensation law that more or less forced the personnel policy change.

Taliaferro based his objections on the disproportionate category of employee to which the law change applies.

"It's not uniform. It's not applied evenly," Taliaferro said. "Why not everybody? Why single out just a handful?"

The new policy, issued by city officials last month, is designed to protect employees who are covered under the presumptive-law section of the state workers' compensation law.

According to that section, police officers and firefighters who develop hypertension or heart disease are presumed to have developed the ailment from their job unless there is evidence to the contrary. For firefighters, the list of ailments also includes respiratory problems.

Because of the evidence linking tobacco use to those diseases, police officers or firefighters who are heavy tobacco users could risk losing their workers' compensation benefits for those diseases, City Manager Randy Smith said last week.

"Teachers are under stress," Taliaferro said. "Why single out one type of employee? It's a Mickey Mouse law."

Taliaferro said his views were shared by fellow council members.

In the past several years, city officials have limited smoking in city buildings, abolished tobacco use in city vehicles and, as a condition of employment, have required new police officers and firefighters to sign pledges stating that they will not use tobacco, Smith said last week.

Now, all police officers and firefighters will have to sign similar pledges or risk losing their jobs, he said.

by CNB