About ASH

About Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)

Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) is a national nonprofit legal action and educational organization fighting for the rights of nonsmokers against the many problems of smoking. ASH uses the tremendous power of the law to represent nonsmokers in courts and legislative bodies and before regulatory agencies.

ASH was formed in 1967 by John F. Banzhaf III, and a distinguished body of physicians, attorneys and other prominent citizens who saw the need for an effective organization to represent nonsmokers' rights. Although its income is tiny compared with the big national health organizations also active in the field, ASH has been a major factor in the war against smoking. For this reason, and because of its location in the nation's media center, ASH has also emerged as a major spokesperson for nonsmokers on radio and television and in the print media.

Unlike the many smaller state, local and specialty antismoking organizations with which it cooperates closely, ASH is active with regard to all aspects of the problems of smoking and nonsmokers' rights, and has a truly national focus.

MORE THAN 40 YEARS OF PROGRESS

In the many years following the release of the original "Surgeon General's Report" on smoking in January of 1964, the war on smoking has made enormous progress, and ASH has played a major role. Below are a number of the most important events and milestones in this 39 year war on smoking.

1964

Original "Surgeon General's Report" issued.

Federal Trade Commission (FTC) proposes to require health warnings indicating that cigarette smoking is "dangerous to health and may cause death from cancer and other diseases."

1965

Instead the "Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act" requires a weaker warning and prevents the FTC and states from any other regulation of tobacco advertising.

1966

John F. Banzhaf III, files a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), arguing that stations broadcasting cigarette commercials should be required to provide free time for the opposing view.

1967

In response Banzhaf's petition, the FCC rules that the "Fairness Doctrine" applies to cigarette commercials, and that radio and television stations must devote hundreds of millions of dollars worth of broadcast time to antismoking messages

Delegates from 34 countries attend the first World Conference on Smoking and Health in New York

Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) is formed by Banzhaf and others to defend and enforce the Fairness Doctrine ruling, and to add legal action as a new weapon to war on smoking.

1968

ASH files a complaint with the FTC charging the Tobacco Institute with ghost writing and deceptively promoting pro-smoking articles in True and National Enquirer. FTC upholds complaint, and urges a ban on cigarette commercials.

US Court of Appeals upholds, in case entitled Banzhaf vs. FCC, "Fairness Doctrine" ruling requiring broadcasters to carry anti-smoking messages.

1969

ASH files complaint with the FTC charging several tobacco companies with widely promoting filter cigarettes in so-called "Gas Derby" based on an article they knew was misleading. Gas Derby ceases.

FCC rules that stations cannot present all anti-smoking messages during non-prime hours, and must present a significant number during prime time when cigarette commercials are presented.

US Supreme Court agrees with a brief filed by ASH and lets stand Banzhaf vs. FCC decision upholding the application of the fairness doctrine to require reply time to cigarette commercials.

ASH collects evidence that ambient tobacco smoke is a health hazard, and files a petition with the Civil Aeronautics Board CAB seeking separate smoking and no-smoking sections aboard aircraft. The rule is adopted, and becomes effective in 1973.

1970

ASH's Fairness Doctrine decision eventually forces cigarette manufacturers to agree to the ban on cigarette commercials which begins January 2, 1972.

1971

Responding to a request from ASH, United Air Lines becomes the first carrier to institute smoking and no-smoking sections.

ASH publishes Tobacco and the Nonsmoker: Hazards of Smoke in the Air, the first major report on the hazards of ambient tobacco smoke. The first such report by HEW is issued by the Surgeon General in January 1972.

ASH files a petition with the Department of Justice charging that television ads for "Winchester," a so-called "little cigar," violates the ban on cigarette advertising. The ads are eventually discontinued in February 1973.

Secretary Elliott Richardson of the HEW accepts ASH's proposals to adopt the first restrictions on smoking in federal buildings.

Citing an ASH amicus curiae brief, a special three-judge US District Court upholds the constitutionality of the law prohibiting broadcast advertising for cigarettes.

1972

The US Supreme Court agrees ASH's brief and affirms that the law banning cigarette commercials is constitutional.

Led by ASH Trustee Betty Carnes, Arizona becomes the first state to pass a comprehensive law protecting nonsmokers.

ASH's John Banzhaf defends the Interstate Commerce Commission's (ICC) rule restricting smoking on buses before the US District Court. The rule is upheld in January 1974.

A CAB rule proposed by ASH mandating no-smoking sections on airplanes becomes final.

1973

A CAB rule proposed by ASH mandating no-smoking sections on airplanes becomes final.

1974

ASH legal action forces the long-delayed release of HEW's report on smoking and health.

1975

An ASH petition sparks an investigation by the National Institutes of Health into the dangers of carbon monoxide in cigarette smoke.

ASH reports to the Third World Conference on Smoking and Health that major antismoking organizations permit smoking in their own offices and meetings. The body condemns the practice.

The FTC, in response to ASH's petition, sues the six major cigarette manufacturers concerning their billboard ads.

1976

With help from ASH, Donna Shimp, an office worker allergic to smoke, gets an injunction prohibiting smoking in her office.

Allegheny Airlines agrees to pay an $8,000 penalty and changes its no-smoking policy to settle complaints filed by ASH with the CAB.

Responding to an ASH petition, the FTC announces the beginning of a probe into the tobacco industry's. The probe eventually results in the release of secret tobacco industry surveys.

The ICC responds to an ASH petition by strengthening its rules restricting smoking on trains by banning smoking entirely in dining cars and designated no-smoking cars.

1977

An ASH request results in a ban on smoking aboard mobile lounges at Dulles International Airport.

An ASH petition results in strong warnings about the dangers of smoking while taking birth control pills.

The "Great American Smokeout" becomes a national event.

1978

ASH attorneys successfully assist in the defense of a Dade County, Florida no-smoking statute. The court says its constitutional.

1979

Responding to a petition by ASH, the CAB requires special segregation for pipe and cigar smokers on planes. Shortly thereafter, many airlines ban pipe and cigar smoking entirely.

ASH negotiates settlement whereby TWA and Eastern Airlines are forced to pay large fines and provide more protection for nonsmokers. ASH complaints at the CAB yield additional settlements with three more airlines, bringing total fines to over $24,000.

1980

The Surgeon General reports that cigarette smoking is a major threat to women's health.

ASH protests the appointment of Jerry Apodaca, a director of Philip Morris Co., to chair the President's Council on Physical Fitness. Mr. Apodaca resigns after several months.

Both TWA and Pan Am adopt new seating configurations to provide substantially increased protection for nonsmoking passengers, an action triggered by complaints filed by ASH

1981

ASH asks major air carriers to protect nonsmoking passengers from exposure to tobacco smoke while in airports. All the major carriers, except Eastern, eventually comply.

Insurance companies begin offering discounts on life insurance premiums to nonsmokers.

A bill restricting smoking in enclosed public places is signed into law in New Hampshire.

The Merit Systems Promotions Board of the Civil Service and the Dept. of Labor rule that employers must make reasonable accommodations to persons sensitive to tobacco smoke.

ASH takes the CAB to court to challenge the new rules which reduce the protection provided for nonsmoking passengers.

An ASH-inspired lawsuit brought by the FTC against the six major cigarette manufacturers was settled with the companies agreeing to increase the size of warning notices on cigarette billboards.

A federal district court holds that a person sensitive to tobacco smoke is a "handicapped person" and that employers must make a "reasonable accommodation" to this handicap.

1982

The No-Net-Cost Tobacco Program Act of 1982 passes, supposedly providing that the tobacco price support and production adjustment program will now operate at no net cost to taxpayers.

1983

The US Court of Appeals unanimously rules in ASH's favor and orders the CAB to reinstate three previously effective anti-smoking regulations it rescinded in 1981.

Cigarette tax revenues will finance cancer research in New Jersey.

ASH petitions the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to require smoke detectors in airplane lavatories. The rule is eventually adopted in 1985.

1984

The FDA approves "Nicorette", a nicotine-based chewing gum, as a smoking cessation aid.

The New York State Assembly passes a bill proposed by Pete Grannis to prevent the free distribution of sample cigarettes in New York.

ASH helps persuade the National Association of Health Commissioners (NAIC) to call for higher health insurance premiums for smokers, a move which eventually results in this changes by several companies.

San Francisco passes an ordinance requiring businesses to accomodate nonsmokers, even if it means banning smoking in an office,

1985

ASH assists the Indian Health Service in creating a nationwide smokefree environment in their facilities.

ASH holds First World Conference on Nonsmokers' Rights in Washington, DC.

1986

ASH attorneys assist Florida in successfully defending the constitutionality of the Florida Clean Indoor Air Act.

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) recommends a total ban on smoking aboard domestic airlines.

Both the US Navy and Army limit tobacco use in their facilities, and ban the sale of tobacco products inside all medical and dental facilities. The General Services Administration (GSA) implements new smoking regulations in all federal work sites.

In separate reports, the National Research Council of the NAS, and the U.S Public Health Service in conjunction with the Surgeon General, both conclude that secondhand tobacco smoke causes lung cancer and lung cancer deaths among nonsmokers.

1987

ASH joins the American Public Health Association and the Public Citizen Health Research Group in asking the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to ban smoking in common workplaces.

All smoking is prohibited in restaurants in Beverly Hills, California and Aspen, Colorado.

The federal government permits a federally qualified HMO to require smokers to pay a higher premium than nonsmokers.

Massachusetts bans recently hired police and fire fighters from smoking off-the-job.

1988

President Reagan a law a banning smoking on short flights. Air Canada and Canadian Airlines International ban smoking entirely.

The Surgeon General reports that nicotine is a drug which can be as addictive as heroin.

ASH helps defeat a law suit against the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) in New York for eliminating all smoking cars.

A new medical study reports that involuntary or passive smoking kills approximately 46,000 American adults a year.

Californians pass Proposition 99 which raises the cigarette by 25¢; some of which will finance antismoking educational programs.

1989

ASH helps to defeat a "smokers' rights" bill in Maryland, a bill seen as the first step in a new tobacco industry strategy to give smokers the right to sue on the basis of alleged discrimination.

ASH follows its legal petition to OSHA with a lawsuit seeking to require the agency to ban or severely limit smoking in all US workplaces.

ASH assists Congressman Tom Luken in documenting how tobacco companies pay producers to feature cigarettes and smoking in movies.

ASH plays a major role in persuading Congress to ban smoking on domestic airline flights. The ban goes into effect in 1990.

Oregon begins requiring death certificates to list whether smoking was a contributing factor.

1990

The ICC, in response to an ASH petition, votes unanimously to ban smoking on all regular and special routes of interstate buses.

1991

ASH Freedom of Information Act request forces EPA to release the technical compendium it ETS report, a document which includes an estimate that ETS kills more than 50,000 Americans each year.

ASH attorneys provide new information and documents to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). In its finalized report NIOSH concluded that ETS meets the criteria of OSHA for classification as a potential occupational carcinogen.

1992

Nicotine skin patches are introduced as a new aid to help smokers quit.

Courts begin making widespread use of a legal principle promoted by ASH to protect children from smoking in the home.

A study estimates that ETS causes 35-40,000 heart attack deaths in American nonsmokers each year.

The Supreme Court holds that cigarette manufacturers could be held liable to smokers the companies made false statements, or conspired to misrepresent or conceal the hazards of smoking.

The International Civil Aviation Organization voted to urge its members to "restrict smoking progressively on all international flights," leading to a total ban by 1996.

1993

The EPA officially determines that secondhand tobacco smoke is a "Group A carcinogen" which kills an estimated 3,000 Americans each year from lung cancer alone, and creates widespread and very serious risks for children.

Hillary Clinton bans smoking in the White House.

As a direct result of ASH pressure, several fast-food restaurant chains either experiment with or completely ban smoking in their outlets.

Responding to information provided by ASH, the Clinton Administration recommends a 75-cent per pack increase in the cigarette excise tax to help finance health care reform.

ASH testifies before the House Ways and Means Committee on the need for a much higher cigarette excise tax.

Vermont's Clean Indoor Air Law becomes the first statewide statute banning smoking entirely.

The city of Los Angeles bans smoking in all restaurants.

The US Supreme Court holds that it is "cruel and unusual punishment" to expose a prisoner to levels of tobacco smoke which place his health at risk.

The U.S. Postal Service bans smoking in all of its facilities, including lobbies, offices, and cafeterias.

Three appellate courts in Massachusetts, California, and New Jersey rule that municipalities may ban the sale of cigarettes through vending machines.

A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that ETS levels in non-smoking sections of restaurants were significantly higher than in office workplaces or homes with one or more smokers.

1994

McDonald's Corp bans smoking in it's company-owned restaurants, followed by Chuck E. Cheese's, Arby's, Taco Bell, and Dairy Queen.

Congress passes the Pro-Children Act of 1994 which bans smoking in schools, day care centers, Head Start programs, and other places receiving federal funding for children's services.

U.S. Dept of Defense bans smoking in all its workplaces

Congress investigates allegations that tobacco companies put extra nicotine into their cigarettes to make them more addictive.

OSHA formally proposes a rule to ban smoking in the workplace.

The Food and Drug Administration proposes to regulate nicotine as a drug.

A tobacco-sponsored initiative that would abolish a new California law banning smoking in virtually all workplaces including restaurants is defeated.

1995

Delta Air Lines bans smoking aboard its international flights.

Dunkin' Donuts bans smoking in its shops.

ASH helps persuade court to rule that there's no legal right to smoke

ASH successfully defends Maryland's Occupational Safety and Health rules banning smoking in the workplace, which are the strongest state smoking regulations in the nation.

Following ASH complaint to the Department of Justice, Philip Morris agrees to remove ads from sports stadiums.

A Florida court rules that there's no right to smoke, even off-the-job.

The FDA, based upon an ASH precedent, proposes the first comprehensive regulation of cigarettes and other tobacco products.

1996

ASH's complaint triggers federal investigation of smoking in movies

ASH files formal complaint seeking a criminal investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice of smoking in the movies.

ASH's kids contest supporting the FDA tobacco rules results in largest regulatory filing in American history ever made by children and a special White House award to ASH.

1997

ASH helps persuade President to ban smoking in virtually all federal buildings

The Advisory Committee on Tobacco Policy and Public Health, of which ASH is a member, issues a report in effect condemning the proposed attorney general tobacco settlement.

1998

ASH helps form "Save Lives, Not Tobacco" a coalition of over 300 anti-smoking, public health and other organizations which was a major factor in denying immunity to the tobacco industry.

ASH and others help prevent Congressional approval of national tobacco settlement with immunity for cigarette manufacturers.

ASH exposes tobacco industry movie product placement, including the Muppet Movie.

Despite ASH's legal actions, the multi-state tobacco settlement appears final.

1999

ASH helped persuade the U.S. Supreme Court to consider restoring the FDA's jurisdiction over cigarettes.

ASH got the support of U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher, M.D., the Department of Health and Human Services [HHS], and the Federal Trade Commission [FTC] for its proposal to require health warnings for cigars.

ASH helped uphold an important $350 million settlement for nonsmokers in Florida which has become final.

ASH helped convince Montgomery County, MD, to ban smoking in all restaurants and bars.

ASH has persuaded several major restaurant chains to review their policies regarding smoking.

ASH helped prevent Liggett Tobacco Company from escaping liability for its cigarettes.

ASH helped to formulate the legal theories behind the government's suit against big tobacco, and to prevent Senate attempts to cut off all funding for the suit.

ASH found a key legal precedent which may prove decisive in persuading the U.S. Supreme Court to restore the FDA's jurisdiction over cigarettes.

ASH provides hundreds of thousands of nonsmokers with information about the problems of smoking and how to protect their rights.

ASH appeared numerous times on virtually all major TV news programs, and on hundreds of individual programs, in newspapers and magazines, speaking on behalf of nonsmokers.

ASH helped "get the goods" on a so-called tobacco industry expert.

ASH helps kill sellout settlement with Liggett Tobacco Company

2000

ASH gets health warnings on cigars

ASH helps achieve ban on flights to and from the US

Negotiations begin for the Framework Convention Alliance. The first international treaty that deals exclusively with tobacco issues.

2001

ASH successfully helped in persuading President Bill Clinton to issue an executive order prohibiting the government from promoting the sale or export of tobacco products.

ASH helps persuade court that there is no legal right to smoke.

2002

ASH helps several states in their efforts to increase cigarette excise taxes.

ASH helps prompt cigarette Ad Ban in Niger.

ASH coordinates International Tobacco Control Meeting In Africa.

ASH ensures that Nonsmokers rights remain a key provision in the negotiations of the first international tobacco treaty.(The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control)

2003

The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control is unanimously adopted at the World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland. ASH was identified as playing a crucial role during the development of this first legally binding tobacco treaty.

ASH aids New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut in passing STATEWIDE smokefree workplace legislation.

ASH helps promote and support a global network for coordinated international campaigning against tobacco; developing tobacco control capacity, particularly in developing countries; and carrying out effectively the Watchdog function for the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

ASH was instrumental in the adoption of a strong Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. The first international treaty negotiated by the 192 member states of the World Health Organization that aims to reduce the global tobacco epidemic.

ASH's staff is appointed to lead the Framework Convention Alliance, an international coalition of over 200 non governmental organizations from over 100 countries.

ASH counsels Sweden on a comprehensive smoking ban.

ASH aids New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut in passing STATEWIDE smokefree workplace legislation.

2004

ASH backs bills in Georgia and New York to restrict smoking in motor vehicles where young children are present.

ASH's staff leads the Framework Convention Alliance in an effort to ratify and bring the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control into force.

ASH fights for the rights of foster children. ASH filed legal petitions demanding states to pass legislation that protects them from the dangers of secondhand smoke in homes and automobiles.

ASH played a major role in removing an amendment to a U.S. House bill which would have spent $9.6 Billion taxpayer dollars to a fund a "buyout" to end the depression era growth quotas for US tobacco farmers.

ASH travels to NYC in a last ditch effort to garner support for the Framework Convention in the final days leading up to the June 29, 2004 signature deadline. ASH helped collect an additional 22 signatures for the treaty and 1 ratification in only 2 days.

ASH has targeted Attorneys General in all states that still allow smoking in government buildings with a letter campaign and a legal brief urging them to protect citizens from tobacco smoke - and the government from liability - by immediately banning smoking in publicly-owned buildings.

2006

ASH filed a formal legal complaint with the EU Commission. The complaint caused:
● several countries to ban virtually all cigarette advertising
● proceedings to be brought in the World Court against several others
● Germany beginning to move towards a ban on smoking in public places

ASH’s complaint to the Attorneys General of the 50 different states helps trigger:
   ● an agreement by Philip Morris not to ship cigarettes to any outlet found by an attorney general to have sold cigarettes illegally on the Internet
   ● an agreement by FedEx and other carriers to prevent the delivery of illegally sold cigarettes
   ● an agreement by many major credit card companies to cooperate in the crackdown
   ● several states have begun taxing the sale of cigarettes over the Internet

ASH produced a white paper outlining the many reasons for banning smoking outdoors which has been a major factor in persuading many jurisdictions to ban smoking in outdoor areas, including parks, beaches, playgrounds, and even on the sidewalk

ASH helped to run the first Conference of the Parties at which the delegates adopted protocols and other techniques for enforcing the world’s first antismoking and nonsmokers’ rights treaty – the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control [FCTC]

ASH helped to persuade the District of Columbia to ban smoking in virtually all public places, including bars and restaurants

ASH helped persuade Calabasas, California, to become the first city to ban smoking virtually everywhere outdoors, and to declare smoking to be a “public nuisance”; a move now being followed – at ASH’s urging – by other jurisdictions

ASH helps persuade CBS-TV to declare a plan by Scotts Miracle Gro to refuse to hire smokers to be a “national model” and the “new reality”

In a related development, ASH helped persuade Newsweek to strengthen and broaden an article about nonsmokers’ rights to include ASH’s successes in restricting smoking in homes to protect children

ASH successfully opposed a smokers’ rights bill in the State of Washington

ASH produced a legal document proving that it would be constitutional and legal for the state of Arkansas to pass a proposed bill which would ban smoking by women while they are pregnant

ASH opened a new frontier in the war to protect nonsmokers’ rights by filing a successful complaint on behalf of a woman and her fetus about her sensitivity to tobacco smoke residue in the workplace

ASH’s request triggered a decision by the State of Tennessee to treat smokers more strictly than nonsmokers in terms of benefits under Medicaid

ASH helped persuade more antismoking groups and individuals to declare that unnecessarily subjecting children to secondhand tobacco smoke can constitute “child abuse”

ASH helps the State of Colorado to defend its comprehensive smoking ban law

ASH helps persuade other antismoking organizations to begin warning nonsmokers that as little as 30 minutes of exposure to tobacco smoke can trigger a fatal heart attack.

ASH helps the State of Colorado to defend its comprehensive smoking ban law

ASH’s programs to encourage bans to protect children at home from unnecessary exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke continues to add new states to the lists of those in which judges have banned smoking to protect children involved in divorce, and states which have banned smoking in homes with foster children. ASH also begins moving to expand the program to adoptions

ASH defends the legal effectiveness of a suggestions to sue physicians who fail – in violation of federal guidelines – to assist smokers to quit, a proposal made in a major journal

ASH produces a major legal document about why there is no legal right to smoke, and why there is no need to balance nonsmokers’ rights with so-called “smoker’s rights”

2007

ASH continued expending the new front in the nonsmokers’ right war designed to protect children from exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke – a movement which has already resulted in judges in the majority of states issuing orders banning smoking in cars and homes when children involved in divorce are present, and in many states now banning smoking in cars and homes when foster children are present – by suggesting and supporting the application of similar requirements regarding the adoption of children.

In a further follow up and expansion of this new front protecting children from exposure to tobacco smoke, ASH was instrumental in developing and promulgating arguments for banning smoking in cars when children are present – a movement which caused a number of states and other jurisdictions to begin doing so during the year.

ASH defended the legal validity of a tactic proposed in a major medical journal to consider holding physicians liable when they deliberately fail to follow well-established medical guidelines requiring them to warn smoking patients about the dangers of smoking, and to provide some meaningful supportive treatment, if the patient then subsequently has a heart attack or other serious illness, and the failure to warn and treat was a substantial factor in causing that medical problem.

Because the issue of so-called “smokers’ rights” or of an alleged “right to smoke” kept being brought up in legal and legislative procedures, ASH prepared a detailed and heavily footnoted legal brief showing that there is no constitutional, legal, or even moral right to smoke, although the legal right of nonsmokers to be protected from secondhand tobacco smoke is well established.

In a related matter, when someone charged in a major travel column that smokers were being treated as “second-class tourists,” ASH’s John Banzhaf provided a major rebuttal which was featured in the column which appeared in dozens of newspapers.

ASH, working behind the scenes, and while serving as the Secretariat of the huge Framework Convention Alliance [FCA], helped to persuade the delegates charged with enforcing the world antismoking and nonsmokers’ rights treaty [Framework Convention on Tobacco Control] to adopt very tough guidelines for enforcing the guarantees designed to protect nonsmokers from tobacco smoke. More than two dozen countries have already banned smoking in most public places.

ASH’s Executive Director John Banzhaf was chosen to give a keynote address at the Fourth World Conference on Nonsmokers’ Rights on the many new frontiers and fronts in the war to protect nonsmokers’ rights which ASH has been able to open up and support. He also was a major organizer of the Conference.

ASH wrote a strong letter of support to all legislators in California proposing and supporting a ban on smoking when children are present. Shortly thereafter, our largest state passed just such a ban; one which is not only continuing to inspire other states as well as jurisdictions around the world, but still remains the most expensive of the bans.

Following its earlier success in persuading the City Council of Calabasas, California, to ban smoking in virtually all outdoor areas, ASH’s letter to the City Council of El Cajon, California helped persuade it to adopt a ban which many are saying is even stricter – another step towards inspiring still more jurisdictions to further extend the protections for nonsmokers.

In addition to its so-far very successful campaign to urge laws banning smoking whenever children are present in a car, ASH researched and developed a more comprehensive and sweeping proposal for smoking to join activities like cell phone use, watching videos, text messaging, etc. from being permitted in any car because, like these other activities, smoking substantially increases the risk of an accident.

Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), as part of the campaign it organized several years ago, wrote letters to several East Coast beaches – including Bethany in Delaware – asking for a ban on smoking at the beach to protect the great majority of beach visitors who are nonsmokers. Bethany has agreed, and its beaches will be virtually smokefree during the summer of 2008.

ASH was the only organization to expose that Marriott – contrary to its pledge to be "100 percent smoke-free" by September 2006 in all of its all "guest rooms, restaurants, lounges, meeting rooms, public space and employee work areas," has now reneged and agreed to again permit smoking. ASH then began a well-coordinated campaign to alert nonsmokers, antismoking organizations both here and abroad, and the media to this breach. The result has been hundreds of emails to Marriott from casual guests, and even members of their elite programs, castigating them for this decision, and in most cases telling Marriott that they would not longer patronize its hotels.

When ASH learned that R.J. Reynolds, in apparent violation of the Multi-State Master Tobacco Settlement Agreement, had an ad in Rolling Stone magazine which featured cartoon characters, it immediately wrote to all of the attorneys general to complain and to support legal action against the tobacco giant. As a result of the law suits, Reynolds agreed to suspend the ads.

Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) was the first antismoking organization to widely warn, in very stark terms, that exposure to drifting tobacco smoke for as little as 30 minutes could substantially increase a nonsmokers’ risk of a heart attack virtually to that of a smoker, and could in fact trigger a fatal heart attack, especially in nonsmokers who were already at increase risk. ASH’s message was soon picked up by almost 100 additional antismoking organizations, and became the basis for arguments for smoking bans in dozens if not hundreds of jurisdictions around the country. Indeed, it was so effective that its central conclusion was soon attacked, but ASH in response produced a well researched document with extensive citations which completely rebutted the attack and helped to pave the way for even more bans on smoking in public places, outdoors, and in cars.

2008

ASH issued a press release and its SMOKING AND HEALTH REVIEW featured a lengthy piece on the problems of smoking and those with mental illness – a topic largely ignored by other major antismoking organizations, even though nearly 70% of people with mental illness smoke and consume more than 40% of all cigarettes. In part for this reason, their life expectancy is 25 years shorter than average. ASH noted that many people who are hospitalized with mental illness are involuntarily subjected to tobacco smoke, even though such conduct by medical professionals and health facilities may constitute medical malpractice and create other legal liabilities for them.

ASH wrote a strong and detailed letter to all fifty state commissioners of health reminding them of federal guidelines requiring all physicians to thoroughly warn all smoking patients of the many dangers of such tobacco use, and further provide that “every patients who uses tobacco should be offered at least of one of [two] treatments.” ASH noted a recent study showing that compliance with this guidelines by physicians was very low, and that substantially increasing compliance could save as many as 40,000 lives a year by helping many more smokers quit. Shortly thereafter, New York State enlarged its campaign to persuade doctors to comply with these guidelines.

ASH prepared and sent a detailed letter in support of a proposal in Great Britain to require all smokers to have a license to purchase tobacco products. ASH pointed out that such a license – in addition to raising money and imposing a burden on those who wished to continue smoking – could also do the following: require smokers to read documents about the dangers of smoking both to themselves and to others in their families, require them to accept these dangers for themselves, educate them about the many techniques and products available to help them quit, require smokers to get periodic health exams (e.g., chest X-rays) to provide the earliest possible warning about cancer and other conditions.

During the early months of 2008, ASH issued many press releases on behalf of nonsmokers. One pointed out that the health plans of the major presidential candidates largely ignored the easiest and least expensive ways to slash health care costs: prohibit smoking in public places, raise taxes on cigarettes, and charge smokers more for health insurance, including under Medicare and Medicaid (as Tennessee is now doing). Another pointed out, long before the major financial meltdown which occurred later in the year, that the credit rating of the U.S. was being threatened by the enormous costs posed by unhealthy habits like smoking.

ASH wrote a strong and detailed letter to the officials responsible for the new federal guidelines for physicians concerning smoking [“Treating Tobacco Use and Dependent Clinical Practice Guidelines”] asking them to make the guidelines even more effective. ASH advised the body, and in separate press releases warned physicians, that failure to comply could result in medical malpractice actions against the responsible doctors. ASH reminded the group and the nation’s doctors that low compliance rates by physicians cause over 40,000 totally unnecessary deaths among smokers each year.

ASH filed a formal legal protest and complaint against a proposal to permit the smoking of marijuana in smoking lounges at the Denver International Airport. ASH was concerned not only that nonsmokers at the airport would be exposed to marijuana smoke in additional to tobacco smoke drifting out of the lounges, that safety would be compromised if pilots and other essential personnel could duck into an airport smoking lounge for a quick hit, and that – if it proved popular – the arrangement could easily spread to other airports. Fortunately, the proposal was not adopted.

After the issue was first raised by former ASH Trustee Dr. Louis W. Sullivan, an African American and former Secretary of HHS, ASH became the only major antismoking or health organization to widely publicize a flaw – some called it a “racist” loophole – in a pending bill to give the Food and Drug Administration [FDA] jurisdiction over cigarettes. Although the bill generally prohibits the use of flavoring agents in cigarettes like peppermint or cloves, it does not prohibit the use of menthol – precisely the flavoring with the greatest appeal to African Americans, including children and teenagers. ASH’s press releases and other communications about this “racist” loophole were very widely reported in the media including USA Today, the New York Times, Washington Post, and even the Rush Limbaugh Show. Eventually, the bill was not passed.

ASH helped break the story that tobacco companies suppressed their own internal research on Polonium-210 – minute amounts of which killed former KGB agent Alexander V. Litvinenko – so as to avoid “waking a sleeping giant” as a secret Philip Morris memo put it. ASH reported that the chemical causes as much radiation exposure as 300 chest x-rays a year, is responsible for 1% of all U.S. lung cancers, and causes more than U.S. 1,600 deaths and over 11,00 deaths worldwide every year.

ASH helped expose in the media that a major university was apparently seeking funding for a health program from Philip Morris (now Altria) by claiming that administering nicotine to pregnant women improves the health of their unborn children. The proposal was dropped and funding was never granted after this outrage was exposed.

ASH’s Executive Director John Banzhaf was chosen to give a keynote address at the Fifth World Conference on Nonsmokers’ Rights on the many of new developments in the war to protect nonsmokers’ rights which ASH has been able to open up and support. He also was a major organizer of the Conference.

With the passage of the first international treaty designed to protect the handicapped – the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities – which uses many of the same words and concepts as the U.S. Americans With Disabilities Act [ADA] which has been widely applied to and used by many people sensitive to tobacco smoke, ASH began extensive legal research to see to what extent the new treaty could likewise be used in other countries to protect smoke-sensitive people. The results will be published during 2009.

ASH used the occasion of Paul Newman’s passing to remind Americans that former smokers face a grim death from lung cancer even if they quit smoking early in life. ASH’s message was carried by the media and over the Internet.

ASH continued to work with and through the Framework Convention Alliance [FCA] and the world antismoking treaty [Framework Convention of Tobacco Control] to pressure countries which have ratified the treaty to require the use of large graphic pictures and other images of the dangers of smoking on cigarette packs. During 2008 the UK joined Australia, Brazil, and New Zealand in requiring such warnings, which research shows are far more effective than simple textual ones.

When Cigna and Aetna health insurance companies both announced that they would ban smoking on their own property, ASH wrote to them asking each to take the logical next step – charging smokers more and nonsmokers less for health insurance. ASH letter pointed out how such plans had been approved by the federal government, were fairer than current plans, and provided enormous benefits in helping to persuade smokers to quit.

ASH prepared a detailed set of proposals for change related to smoking and sent them to key members of the Obama transition team, especially those working in areas related to health and to reform of our current health care and health insurance situation.

When much-in-the-news Governor Bobby Jindal announced that he wanted to enact “creative medicare reform” for Louisiana, ASH wrote a detailed letter which he should address the issue of smoking in a variety of ways to save the state billions of dollars and millions of lives. A similar letter was then sent to governors and key Medicare officials in the other 49 states.

Since ASH began its program of urging states to ban smoking in the cars and homes of foster children, no fewer than 17 states have adopted such requirements for foster children in their state. Thus, near the end of the year, ASH sent a very detailed and recently updated legal petition to the remaining states asking them to do likewise.

2009

ASH filed a citizens’ legal petition with the Food and Drug Administration [FDA] urging the agency to take action concerning the importation and sale of e-cigarettes. This is similar to the citizens’ legal petition ASH filed many years ago which urged the agency to take action regarding a very similar product – Favor imitation cigarettes – which ultimately led to their ban. The FDA is now reportedly restricting the importation of e-cigarettes into the U.S., and is involved in a battle in the courts concerning its jurisdiction over e-cigarettes.

ASH filed a motion to intervene in the nature of a brief amicus curiae in response to a complaint filed with the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal that there had been discrimination based upon smoking. ASH argued, in opposition to the complaint, that there is no legally protected right to smoke, and that the tribunal has no authority to consider such a complaint. No further action appears to have been taken regarding the complaint.

ASH filed a brief amicus curiae before the Quebec Commission on Human Rights opposing a previously-filed complaint against a help-wanted ad by the Quebec Council on Tobacco and Health seeking an employee who is not currently a smoker. ASH argued that the complaint was baseless because there was no legally protected right to be a smoker. It appears that no further action was taken regarding this matter.

ASH produced a report on four new dangers to nonsmokers. This report included information on the following topics: a “Shocking” Amount of Exposure to Secondhand Tobacco Smoke in “Smokefree” New York City; E-CIGARETTES -- ASH Legal Complaint Hits E-Cigarettes: New Product Poses Dangers For Both Smokers and Nonsmokers; Third Hand Smoke Can Pose Serious Risks for Nonsmokers, Especially the Most Sensitive; and Smokers' Breath Can Be Harmful to Health, Especially to Children, the Elderly, and Those Especially Sensitive to Many Chemicals.

ASH researched existing law, and found legal theories – including a potential action under the ADA – which could be filed on behalf of a pregnant office worker who was very sensitive not only to tobacco smoke, but also to tobacco smoke residue. ASH wrote a letter of complaint about her situation which forced her employer to move an office worker who smoked during his breaks to another office. ASH shared this information – about how to file a complaint based upon tobacco smoke residue – with the antismoking community, and helped begin the movement against what is now known as third-hand tobacco smoke.

ASH engaged in legal research which indicated that a new world treaty – entitled the “Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities” – could be helpful in protecting the rights of nonsmokers around the world because it is very similar to our “Americans With Disabilities Act” which ASH used very successfully for that purpose. ASH oversaw the production of four legal documents aimed at helping people in other countries use this new treaty to protect nonsmokers, and made these available to the antismoking community.

ASH’s appearance on a nationally broadcast NPR program triggered an announcement by the FDA that e-cigarettes were an “illegal” product; the first time such an announcement had been made.

ASH worked with and provided information to a Texas attorney who helped to get a temporary restraining order, and then a permanent injunction, prohibiting a neighbor from smoking in his apartment. The effect of this law suit was to help establish an important precedent – in Texas as well as elsewhere – to help protect nonsmokers from smoking drifting into their homes.

ASH wrote to all of the nation’s attorneys general to be sure they were aware of the health and other problems posed by e-cigarettes, and to urge them to take legal action against this new problem. Several attorneys general have now filed law suits aimed at the sale of these products and, in at least one state, the sales seem to have ceased.

ASH collected and published the positions of virtually all of the major antismoking organizations on the issue of e-cigarettes so that the public and other antismoking organizations would be aware of their concerns and of their warnings about the dangers of e-cigarettes. This compilation has been used in several legal proceedings.

ASH sent a legal letter to Amazon.com warning the company of the potential legal liability and other problems which could result if they continued to sell e-cigarettes – a product which the FDA has declared is “illegal” – including possible tort liability if one of the products allegedly caused a health problem for a user or even a bystander. Shortly thereafter they dropped the product.

ASH helped persuade Suffolk County, New York, to ban the use of e-cigarettes wherever the use of conventional cigarettes is already prohibited. ASH went further by publicizing the arguments which helped persuade the legislators, as well as the decision itself, so that it could create a favorable precedent for other jurisdictions.

ASH helped to publicize a memo by the Department of Department of Housing and Urban Development [HUD] in which it "strongly encouraged" all public housing authorities to ban smoking in their individual housing units, citing the deadly health hazards, the increased risk of fires and fire deaths, and the added cost to fumigate a unit formerly occupied by a smoker. ASH added additional information and support to the memo to benefit other antismoking activists.

ASH’s taped appearance for an NBC-TV Evening News broadcast, in which it blasted the FDA for its inaction on e-cigarettes, was the catalyst which caused the FDA to suddenly report that it found in samples of e-cigarettes a variety of "toxic and carcinogenic chemicals" including diethylene glycol, "an ingredient used in antifreeze, [which] is toxic to humans"; "certain tobacco-specific nitrosamines which are human carcinogens"; and that "tobacco-specific impurities suspected of being harmful to humans - anabasine, myosmine, and B-nicotyrine - were detected in a majority of the samples tested."

To deal with a growing topic of interest to ASH members, regulators, Members of Congress, and others, ASH produced a report showing why it is lawful – under two different federal rulings which ASH obtained – for health insurance companies to charge nonsmokers less than smokers for health insurance.

When an e-cigarette company sent a letter to a major Qatar newspaper claiming that its article pointing out some of the dangers of e-cigarettes reported by the Food and Drug Administration [FDA] "could lead to the deaths of smokers and electronic cigarette users” and demanding a retraction, ASH responded. ASH’s letter pointed out the possible bias of the letter writer, why the claim was an exaggeration, and new dangers about e-cigarettes, including that they “are potentially lethal to children." The newspaper did not retract the story, and in nearby Dubai, the importation of e-cigarettes is being blocked because of their potential dangers

ASH sent a legal letter to PayPal.com warning the company of the potential legal liability and other problems which could result if they continued to sell e-cigarettes – a product which the FDA has declared is “illegal” – including possible tort liability if one of the products allegedly caused a health problem for a user or even a bystander. Shortly thereafter they stopped facilitating the sale of e-cigarettes.

ASH’s widespread warning – based upon published medical article by the CDC and other entities and researchers – that exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke for as little as 30 minutes can trigger a heart attack, and that even such a brief exposure can increase a nonsmokers’ risk of a heart attack virtually to that of a smoker, was widely adopted by dozens of other health organizations. ASH revised and updated its report to include additional research.

ASH prepared and obtained wide distribution of calculations showing that John McCain’s status as a former smoker very dramatically increased the chances that, should he be elected President, the chances that his Vice President would have to take over were considerable. The calculations also showed the corresponding risk for Barack Obama who is a current smoker. Neither ASH nor any of its staff ever takes any position or voices any support regarding any candidate for public office.

ASH helped persuade the city of Belmont, California to ban smoking in private apartments; a move which follows ASH’s earlier successes in persuading other California jurisdictions to restrict or ban smoking in apartments or in outdoor areas.

A 50% [61 cent] cigarette tax increase which ASH promoted was passed by Congress. ASH had sent letters to each member of the Senate summarizing arguments in favor of such an increase, including historical benchmarks and generally accepted world norms, the enormous benefits of such an increase, and a refutation of the tobacco industry’s arguments against the increase. For example, ASH noted that raising the federal cigarette tax to only $1/pack would save 900,000 lives annually, bring in almost $10 billion in increased revenue, decrease smoking by kids by almost 10%, help persuade over 1 million current smokers to quit, and save about $1 billion in 5-year health-care savings alone.

A RICO prosecution brought by the Department of Justice against the major tobacco companies was upheld on appeal. ASH helped to start the legal action by generating a memo suggesting legal theories which was sent to Senator Dick Durbin. The result of this latest court decisions was to uphold the largest fraud, deception, RICO suit ever; one which involved a 50 year conspiracy, as well as one imposing numerous legal restrictions designed to protect children from becoming smokers.

When the FDA’s jurisdiction over e-cigarettes was attacked by an e-cigarette company in U.S. District Court, ASH was the only organization to enter the proceeding on behalf of the agency, filing no fewer than four different pleadings. The result, however, was a decision by the lower court judge which enjoined the FDA from stopping imports of e-cigarettes. Fortunately, that injunction has now been stayed by a unanimous decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals.

ASH helped persuade the state of New Jersey to follow the lead of Suffolk County, New York, in banning the use of e-cigarettes wherever the use of conventional cigarettes is already prohibited. ASH went further by publicizing the arguments which helped persuade the legislators as well as the decision itself so that it could create a second favorable precedent for other jurisdictions. Virginia also has a similar ban, although it was done by executive rather than legislative action.

When the U.S. Congress began moving forward with regard to health care reform, ASH formulated a proposal to permit higher premiums for smokers as a way to force them to pay more of their fair share and to lower the costs passed on to nonsmokers. ASH’s proposal to impose personal responsibility on smokers was featured in and debated on a variety of national television programs [e.g., on Fox News, MSNBC, etc.] as well as in articles and on the Internet. ASH also sent dozens of emails in support of the proposal to Members of Congress, and issued numerous press releases explaining why it was fair to charge smokers more for health insurance.

ASH also began revising and modernizing its award-winning Internet web site, a process which also included creating new pages related to legal, medical, and scientific issues, as well as updating many pages which had been prepared earlier.

ASH's STRATEGIES FOR CONTINUING TO ACHIEVE VICTORIES ON BEHALF OF NONSMOKERS

ASH's strategies for continuing to achieve victories on behalf of nonsmokers remain the same as those it has used successfully for more than 40 years.
They can be summarized as follows:

1. USE LEGAL AND LAW-RELATED STRATEGIES AND TACTICS: Legal and law-related actions – including encouraging and participating in law suits, filing complaints or comments with regulatory agencies, providing legislators with legal and other information, advising other entities of the legal duties and the possible consequences for violating them – provide tremendous power to affect events, allowing ASH to achieve results far out of proportion to its resources. ASH's Executive Director - who has been called the "Dean of Public Interest Lawyers" and, at one time, one of the "100 Most Powerful People in Washington" – teaches and lectures on using "legal leverage" to achieve social goals, noting that many social movements were started by – or largely rely upon – legal action and its power for social change.

2. WORK ON THE CUTTING EDGE: ASH is usually out in front, doing what many other antismoking organizations are not doing or cannot do, and pursuing new untested strategies to reach novel goals. This tends to make ASH more effective because the organization is always working on new and promising strategies. This technique also helps to avoid duplication of effort by health organizations or a herd mentality, and lets ASH serve as a think tank and incubator for new approaches which are very frequently adopted subsequently by other organizations.

3. MAINTAIN A THICK SKIN: It's all too easy for organizations to be discouraged from taking hard-hitting action on behalf of nonsmokers by worries that it will be regarded as not only new but controversial. ASH believes that if the cause is both just and justified, the organization should not be dissuaded by anticipated or even actual criticism from foes or friends.

4. BE OUTSPOKEN: ASH has not and does not hesitate to criticize or to put pressure on others when they have acted improperly or have not had the courage of their convictions. So ASH has been outspoken where appropriate in criticizing governmental officials, corporations and labor unions, doctors and lawyers, and even other public health organizations. In many cases, ASH's policy of speaking out where appropriate has helped persuade others to change their policies and practices to better protect or serve nonsmokers.

5. REMAIN LEAN AND MEAN: Since i's inception more than 40 years ago, ASH has deliberately limited its size, with a small but very active board, and a few key staff members. Without a large and often cumbersome bureaucracy with review committees and layers of people involved in the approval process, ASH moves quickly and decisively to take full advantage of new developments as they occur, and to react to adverse developments before it's too late.

6. USE APPROACHES WHICH ARE UNIQUE: ASH plays a unique role in the war on smoking and to protect nonsmokers rights - going beyond simply cooperating with other organizations - by being imaginative, and by developing new and novel projects and approaches which are at the time untested, but have a reasonable probability of being effective and successful. In short, ASH acts as a think tank and incubator for the antismoking movement; developing, trying out, and promoting new approaches – many of which are ultimately adopted by other organizations, the government, etc.

7. REMAIN SELF RELIANT: ASH often has to proceed on its own because other health organizations may not yet be ready to tread new ground, and where the lengthy process they must follow to obtain approval cannot take place in a timely fashion. While always willing to cooperate and toseek the support of others, ASH frequently has to do its own thing without relying on outside support.

8. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE UNEXPECTED: Almost by definition, one cannot expect and plan on the unexpected occurring. However, ASH's experience over more than 40 years teaches us that unexpected events will occur, and that it is important to remain ready to act quickly to take advantage of them promptly when they occur. With a small very active board, almost no bureaucracy, more than 40 years of experience, and thousands of contacts in many areas, ASH is always poised to strike with the iron is hot on behalf of nonsmokers.

9. MAXIMIZE LEVERAGE: Archimedes provided one of the first examples of leverage when he said: "Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world." ASH likewise utilizes leverage – frequently legal leverage – in seeking and selecting projects and actions which are maximally effective because they require a small input but offer a very significant output if they are successful. ASH seeks to avoid projects which require a substantial input in terms of financial and other resources, in favor of those which need only a smaller input but have the promise of a substantial and important result. Using this strategy, ASH is always in a position to take advantage of the leverage provided by a new governmental decision, research report, or other development to provide more "bang for the buck" for every dollar contributed.

ASH'S CAPACITY AND ABILITY TO CONTINUE ACHIEVING VICTORIES ON BEHALF OF NONSMOKERS

One of ASH's primary capabilities for continuing to achieve victories on behalf of nonsmokers is its Executive Director and Chief Counsel, John F. Banzhaf III. Law professor John Banzhaf has been called: "Mr. Anti-Smoking," "One of the Most Vocal and Effective Anti-Tobacco Attorneys," a "Driving Force Behind the Lawsuits That Have Cost Tobacco Companies Billions of Dollars," a "Major Crusader Against Big Tobacco," and "The Law Professor Who Masterminded Litigation Against the Tobacco Industry." Prof. Banzhaf has also been hailed as "A Man Who Lives by his Writs," an "Entrepreneur of Litigation, [and] a" Trial Lawyer's Trial Lawyer," one of the "100 Most Powerful People in Washington," and "The Fastest Legal Gun in the West."

Further supporting Professor Banzhaf's efforts is a staff with many years of experience battling the tobacco industry, a small yet very active board with even more experience, thousands of individual and organizational contacts in the public health and antismoking movements, a well established presence and reputation in the mainstream and newly-emerging media, numerous contacts – often at the highest levels – with leaders in government, public health organizations, the media, and other invaluable resources.

But clearly the best indication of ASH's capacity to continue to make progress in achieving its goals is an unparalleled history of successes over more than 40 years in doing exactly that. A good track record beats a good resume every time. As the book "The Passionate Nonsmokers' Bill of Rights" put it succinctly, "If there's one group the tobacco industry fears more than any other, it's ASH."

HOW ASH MEASURES PROGRESS TOWARDS ITS GOALS

Many ASH projects aimed at achieving its goals are based upon using combinations of legal and law-related actions, as well as persuasion, publicity, and pressure to cause specific end results: e.g., laws banning smoking in cars or in homes when foster children are present; preserving the legal right to charge smokers more for life insurance, or for companies not to hire them; establishing protections for apartment dwellers from smoke from adjacent units, etc. – all of which ASH has achieved or is achieving, usually gradually on a step-by-step basis.

1. END POINT MEASURE: In many such situations, the end result (e.g., laws, rulings, etc.) are the ultimate vindication, measurement, and the basis for final evaluation. For some goals, there appears to be only one logical end point. For example, in large part because of ASH's urging and pressure - and contrary to the urging of both tobacco interests and pressure by major national health organizations - Congress upheld the right to charge smokers more for health insurance, and to do so without the need to meet various requirements for so-called "wellness" programs.

2. MEASURING SUCCESSES: In other situations, there is not a single end point, but there are still quantitative measures. For example, as part of its measures of progress towards achieving certain specific goals, ASH tracks the number of states which have banned smoking in homes with foster children, the number of states, cities, and foreign jurisdictions which have banned smoking in cars whenever a child is present, the number of companies which maintain a smoker-free workforce, etc. to see if these numbers are increasing. When they continue to increase, it provides an important quantitative measure of ASH's success towards achieving specific goals.

Moreover, in all these instances, ASH also utilizes interim markers to help measure progress towards achieving its goals. Here are several additional techniques which ASH has used successfully in the past, and which it will continue to use in the future.

3. INTERNET: ASH monitors the Internet (including health related and other sites, as well as blogs) for reports – especially favorable ones – mentioning the new concept which is the subject of an ASH campaign because the Internet is increasingly where new concepts are incubated and begin to catch on. Such early mentions are significant measures of progress, especially if the reports are generally favorable to the concept or approach, and therefore likely to influence others to support the desired end result.

4. PRO-SMOKING WEBSITES: ASH also monitors websites which oppose antismoking activities for any criticism of our efforts. Authors and commentators appearing on those sites tend to be knowledgeable about ongoing antismoking activities, and to reserve their strongest criticism for approaches and projects they fear are most likely to be successful and reduce smoking. So growing criticism by enemies is an important early marker and measure of the effectiveness of ASH's programs, and also helps to spread the message across the Internet to others who may be more open minded to new ideas. As the old saying goes, a man is known by the enemies he makes.

5. THE MEDIA: ASH also monitors a wide variety of news sources – including some private sources provided for attorneys – for early indications that its activities are gaining traction and beginning to have an impact. For example, ASH can look for news that opinion leaders and political figures are likewise suggesting that subjecting children to smoke can constitute child abuse, that such complaints have actually been filed, that medical organizations are seriously considering the issue, etc. – all measures that ASH's project aimed at encouraging such complaints is making important progress.

6. MEDIA APPEARANCES: The number of times ASH is quoted or otherwise mentioned in the media is another indicator of progress, as is the appearance of a spokesperson from ASH appearing on a radio or televisions program, especially if it is broadcast nationally – e.g., when ASH appears, as it frequently does, on Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, or major network news and discussions program. Every mention, quotation or actual appearance in the media represents the judgment of the outlet that ASH is a significangt and credible source for information and/or opinions – in other words, that ASH is generally effective. If the mention, quotation, or appearance involves a specific ASH goal, it is an indication of progress towards the goal. In addition, every mention, quotation, or appearance also demonstrates that ASH is getting its message out, at least to those who read, hear, or view ASH in that media outlet. Since access to the public through the media is such an important aspect of many different projects aimed at advancing ASH's goals, each such media event marks a step towards ultimate victory and a measure of ASH's progress.

7. POLLS AND SURVEYS: ASH carefully tracks published polls and surveys to see if the attitudes of those surveyed (usually the general public) show increases over time in support for both specific and general ASH goals. If so, this strongly suggests progress towards achieving those specific and general goals. For example, recent surveys showing growing support for the concept of charging smokers more for health insurance provides an important measure of progress towards a very specific ASH goal. In addition, surveys showing growing public support for punishing smokers generally, or growing concern about the huge costs smokers through their habit impose on all nonsmokers, are a significant quantitative measure of progress toward more general ASH goals.