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Action on Smoking and Health
A National Legal-Action Antismoking Organization Entirely Supported by Tax-Deductible Contributions
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ALLOW US TO INTRODUCE YOU TO ASH
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2000 / 2001/ 2002 / 2003 / 2004
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 Executive Director 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.
In the 39 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. Those marked with a indicate significant ASH involvement.
John F. Banzhaf III is the lawyer who staggered the tobacco and television industries with his successful demand that TV stations give free time for anti-smoking messages.
- Time
John F. Banzhaf III, the lawyer who petitioned the FCC for the fairness doctrine ruling on cigarettes, has now officially asked the Federal Aviation Administration to order airlines to segregate smokers from nonsmokers.
-Newsweek
The legal lever applied by ASH could be of major consequence in curbing smoking as a menacee to public health.
-New England Journal of Medicine
[ASH] played a major role in establishing the legal concept of the right of nonsmokers to be free from exposure to tobacco smoke.
-1989 Surgeon General's Report
If there's one group the tobacco industry fears more than any other, it's ASH.
-Steve Allen
The Passionate Nonsmokers' Bill of Rights
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."
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
ASH's Fairness Doctrine decision eventually forces cigarette manufacturers to agree to the ban on cigarette commercials which begins January 2, 1972.
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.
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.
A CAB rule proposed by ASH mandating no-smoking sections on airplanes becomes final.
ASH legal action forces the long-delayed release of HEW's report on smoking and health.
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.
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.
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.
ASH attorneys successfully assist in the defense of a Dade County, Florida no-smoking statute. The court says its constitutional.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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,
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The ICC, in response to an ASH petition, votes unanimously to ban smoking on all regular and special routes of interstate buses.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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)
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.
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