Oral

Secondhand smoke, or environmental tobacco smoke, remains a major preventable cause of illness and death. This session emphasizes the conference theme, Politics, Policy and Public Health and updates the science and policy on ETS by presenting case studies from different organizations and jurisdictions that overcame political challenges to adopt important public health policies. Presenters will provide scientific findings on health effects of ETS and an accounting of comprehensive clean air policies adopted at the state and local level. In addition to a strong evidence base, another critical factor has been adoption of voluntary policies by numerous health organizations that stipulate they will only hold meetings in jurisdictions that have enacted comprehensive clean air laws. APHA was the first major national organization to adopt this policy in 2004, and NCI, NIDA, AMA and many others have since followed to provide incentives for legislators to adopt clean air laws. Many businesses decided voluntarily to protect their employees and customers from the dangers of ETS by adopting smokefree policies. Westin was the first major chain in the U.S. to make all their hotels smokefree. Subsequently, all Marriotts in the U.S. have become smokefree. Although these companies support efforts to reduce the health consequences of ETS, they're in business to make money and have concluded that these policies will enhance their bottom line. More than 50% of the U.S. population is protected by comprehensive clean air legislation. Important scientific, economic and political lessons contributing to successful of comprehensive clean air policies will be presented.

Session Objectives: • To develop a better understanding of the scientific, business and political factors that have contributed to the successful adoption and implementation of comprehensive clean air policies across the U.S. • To build momentum for expanding these policies in other States and cities across the U.S. by informing the audience of the strong scientific evidence for these policies, demonstrating the vast public demand for these policies.