Vision 
A world free from the harm caused by tobacco.
Mission
To advocate for innovative legal and policy measures to end the global tobacco epidemic.
About ASH
Good policies don’t just happen. They take ongoing research, daily action, regular trainings, technical assistance in several languages, and a very, very dedicated team.
This is why we train people around the world: we are hard-set on making sure all tobacco control advocates know that the production, marketing and sale of cigarettes is a human rights violation. Once they know that, we train them on how to use existing human rights systems to push their governments to enact stronger tobacco regulations.
At the same time, if the sale of cigarettes is a human rights violation, governments must phase out their sale. That’s where our Project Sunset comes in. We coordinate and work with partners to provide technical assistance to local U.S. communities looking for ways to phase out the sale of cigarettes, like Beverly Hills, CA did.
Your community doesn’t have to allow the sale of cigarettes, and your activism could be the impetus to turn the tides in your area! Contact us if you’d like to learn more (hq@ash.org).
The 3rd tier of ASH’s programs is the legal next step once our human rights program and Project Sunset are in full swing in more and more jurisdictions. If it’s a human rights violation to sell cigarettes, the people selling cigarettes must be held accountable. We think it’s time to bring charges against tobacco companies and their executives for murder.
Tobacco companies are getting a free pass to sell an addictive and lethal product, a free pass that no other company is given. Cigarettes kill when used exactly as intended. Cigarette butts are toxic, single-use plastics that lead chemicals into our soil and water. Yet, we have it in our power to reverse the deadly trend the tobacco industry has started.
But we can’t make a change without you. The trainings and technical assistance ASH leads across the US and around the world are crucial but expensive to maintain.
Please consider making a generous donation today to ensure the ongoing success of our programs which are designed to be the final blow that ends the tobacco epidemic once and for all. Join us in saving more lives than you ever imagined. Join us in taking down Big Tobacco.
ASH’s 2022 Accomplishments in each program area are outlined here.
ASH’s 2022 Impact in Numbers is available here.
Taking Action
ASH is not anti-smoker — it is anti-tobacco industry. People who smoke are victims of an aggressive industry that has targeted them for decades with addictive and deadly products, no doubt violating their human rights. ASH has been a leader in the public health movement since its inception in 1967. Listen to Historian Sarah Milov from the University of Virginia discuss ASH’s Founder helping to launch the nonsmoker movement.
ASH remains a leader in the fight against the harm caused by tobacco companies, working both domestically and globally on initiatives that include:
- Pushing for legal liability for the tobacco industry, including criminal liability for tobacco executives;
- Changing societal norms to end the age of the cigarette;
- Developing and distributing publications and research documents for tobacco control best practices; and
- Demanding respect for basic human rights and protections against the tobacco industry and their products, including environmental protections.
ASH and the the Global Alliance for Tobacco Control (previously the Framework Convention Alliance, FCA)
Since 2000, ASH has played a key role the global war on tobacco, in large part by working with and supporting the Framework Convention Alliance, a coalition made up of more than 500 organizations in over 100 countries. All of the organizations work together to enforce and effectuate the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) — the world’s first international public health treaty.
Early in the FCTC negotiations, ASH made the decision to commit itself to go beyond domestic US tobacco control and confront Big Tobacco on the world stage. At the time, there was no global civil society movement to combat tobacco. The FCA was formed to combine the voices of dozens (later hundreds) of public health groups to demand strong global action. ASH played a critical role in forming the informal coalition. FCA was later incorporated in Geneva, Switzerland in 2003, with Mr. Huber as its director.
From 2003 through 2015, ASH bolstered the FCA with its first Executive Director, providing resources, leadership and direction.
The FCA became a broad civil society coalition widely recognized by governments, non-governmental organizations, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the United Nations for its vital role in shaping the FCTC, the first global public health treaty negotiated under the auspices of the WHO.
As of January 1, 2016, ASH passed the FCA’s leadership on to HealthBridge Canada. Read ASH’s statement here>
As of November 1, 2022, the Framework Convention Alliance (FCA) was reincorporated in Canada as the Global Alliance for Tobacco Control (GATC).
ASH will continue to work with the GATC to strengthen and accelerate the implementation of the life-saving measures of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).
