Tobacco-Free Marion County

GRASSROOTS NEWSLETTER

January- February 2006Volume 4 Number 4

Happy New Year Smoke free activists! As 2005 draws to a close Americans can look back on one of the most productive years for smoke free legislation in history. 6 states and 159 cities enacted smoke free protection for their citizens in 2005.

Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights reports: “Altogether, as a result of both local and statewide smokefree laws, 6,010 municipalities now have 100% smokefree private workplaces/government buildings, and/or restaurants, and/or bars, protecting 39.4% of the U.S. population. There are now 2,129 U.S. municipalities with some sort of local clean indoor air law, 440 of which provide 100% smokefree protection for private workplaces/government buildings, and/or restaurants, and/or bars. Fifteen states have strong laws now in effect that qualify for at least one of the 100% smokefree list categories. A total of 33 states now have 100% smokefree air laws at the local level. A total of 124 municipalities have ordinances in effect that provide for 100% smokefree workplaces, restaurants, AND bars - representing an almost 600% increase in comprehensive smokefree protections since the beginning of 2000. “

In Arkansas, Pine Bluff became the first predominately black city in the nation to protect its citizens from tobacco smoke in June. Fairfield Bay, in December, passed one of the strongest smoke free ordinances in the nation, even protecting workers in private clubs. And in a stunning reversal Governor Mike Huckabee now says he wants to protect all workers from secondhand smoke. Insiders will recall his directive in early 2003 for TPEP grantees to disregard governmental policy change as a Centers for Disease Control goal. Now the Governor plans to propose smoke free legislation for an upcoming Special Session. This is definitely good news but also presents a formidable challenge for a General Assembly perhaps preoccupied with school funding.

Tobacco-Free Marion County is expressly forbidden from lobbying. However, education about the litany of evidence based effective tobacco prevention is well within its parameters and mission. All of us, especially our legislators, should be aware of the qualities of a good smoke free law. Let’s review.

Initially, exemptions should be avoided. It is important to note that all workers are due a safe workplace and to distinguish between bars and restaurants, or businesses of a certain size, neglects the intent of the legislation to protect the working person. Fewer exemptions decrease the chance of legal challenges.

Another issue to be aware of is loopholes for ventilation. The tobacco industry has opposed clean indoor air for decades attempting to convince business owners that to ‘accommodate’ smoke free legislation they will have to purchase expensive filtration systems. The problem is that these systems are ineffective. The industry standard from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-conditioning Engineers for 2005 states that the only way to guarantee protection from secondhand smoke is to prohibit smoking inside. The only business that loses money with smoke free air is the tobacco business.

A common misconception is that somehow clean indoor air has infringed upon a person’s rights. Commerce is a privilege quite rightfully regulated by government. We see it all the time in sanitation requirements, building codes, traffic laws, and anyplace where people interact in public. Smoking, like doing business, is a privilege. Breathing is a right.

Finally, any statewide protection from secondhand smoke should not pre-empt stronger tobacco prevention. Effective tobacco prevention is a comprehensive plan for smoke free air, significantly increased tobacco taxes, marketing reform reducing youth access, and cessation support. Tobacco costs Arkansas $748 million in health care, $222.9 million in Medicaid, and $1.2 billion in productivity each year, according to the CDC. Tobacco taxes, according to R.J. Reynolds, only bring in $170.6 million annually. Phillip Morris, on their website, now states that, “We also believe that the conclusions of public health officials concerning environmental tobacco smoke are sufficient to warrant measures that regulate smoking in public places.” Evidence for the dangers of secondhand smoke is backed up by sound peer reviewed research. Smoke free laws protect nonsmokers, help smokers quit, and are the example to kids that tobacco smoke is always dangerous.

These are the sorts of things our lawmakers should investigate when drafting smoke free protection for Arkansans. We know that the tobacco cartel lobby is very powerful. Let’s keep on our toes for any misdirection or deceit for which they are so famous.

This month marks the 52^nd anniversary of a landmark in the history of tobacco. On January 4^th in 1954 a dozen of the largest tobacco producers bought a full page spread in 448 of the country’s largest newspapers reacting to the growing epidemiological evidence against tobacco. A Frank Statement to Cigarette Smokers, announced the creation of the Tobacco Institute Research Committee (TIRC) “pledging aid and assistance to the research effort into all phases of tobacco use and health.” Historians have cited the "Frank Statement" as beginning of one of the largest campaigns of deliberate distortion, distraction, and deception the world has ever known.

In 1955 57% of Americans smoked. Health research around the globe was quickly condemning tobacco as deadly. The 1951 British Doctors Study directly linked morbidity with smoking. Cancer rates were beginning to spike and autopsies of Korean War dead were finding unexpected biomarkers for cardiovascular disease among young American soldiers. The industry responded with ad campaigns claiming “Just what the doctor ordered.” The TIRC became the American Tobacco Institute and perpetuated an organized effort to discredit research and provide shill science reacting to every discovered link between tobacco and disease. Confronting the smoke free air movement, the tobacco industry early on began covert funding of smoker’s rights groups and literally created hospitality associations to oppose clean indoor air with claims of business privilege and bogus economic hardship. A New York State Court revoked the American Tobacco Institute’s tax exempt status in 1998, exposing it as a front for big tobacco and not a research facility.

We know now that this was not the last of the deceit and cunning of the tobacco industry. Last year Tom Delay flew on an R.J. Reynolds’s jet to face indictments in Texas. The battle for his seat as Republican majority Leader is now between Roy Blunt, the largest recipient of Phillip Morris campaign contributions ever, and John Boehmer who in 1995 distributed campaign contribution checks from the tobacco lobby actually on the House floor. Even today in Arkansas we can see the insidious influence of the tobacco lobby as a Democrat from Stuttgart, Benny Petrus, with strong connections both to R.J. Reynolds and the Oil Marketers Association, is elected as Speaker of the House for the 2007 session. All of this as Phillip Morris signs an agreement overseas to make Chinese Marlboros for China’s 350 million smokers.

Clean indoor air has its work cut out for it. With opportunity comes challenge. It’s your air. Learn more and spread the word. Happy New Year! Keep up the good fight!