Advocacy Project: Issue Overview

Introduction

What is the issue/problem? A policy mandating Smoke-free and Tobacco-Free Schools in America

What current legislation has been proposed to address this? 
S.579 Federal Tobacco Act of 2009 (Introduced in Senate)

Title: A bill to establish a comprehensive Federal tobacco product regulatory program, to create a Tobacco Regulatory Agency, to prevent use of tobacco products by youth, and to provide protections for adult tobacco product users through the regulation of the tobacco products manufacturing industry.

Who is affected by the issue?

Who is affected the most?  I believe that those who are affected the most are faculty, staff, and school visitors that smoke.  The only students who are legally allowed to smoke are at least 18 year olds (mainly senior classmen); therefore the issue does not negatively affect the majority of the student body. 

Who loses, and what do they lose?  School faculty and staff lose the ability to have smoke breaks on school grounds or keep their tobacco products in their cars parked on school grounds, or in the building (offices, classrooms etc).  Parents and school visitors lose the ability to smoke while on school grounds, which includes smoking in their vehicles while dropping students off or picking students up.  Students who are 18+ and smokers/tobacco users, will lose the ability to smoke on school grounds, keep their tobacco products in their cars parked on school property or lockers. 

Who gains, and what do they gain?  Those who attend school in the building or are employed by the school gain an environment with smoke-free air.  They also gain a tobacco-free environment.  Janitorial staff will gain time to spend on other projects once cleaning cigarettes off of school grounds or changing cigarette disposals isn’t a necessary duty.

What are the consequences of the issue? 

For the individuals mostly affected?  Not as much for school visitors, but for faculty, staff and student smokers/tobacco users, quitting may become a much more important decision to avoid penalties and fines.  They may also experience withdrawal symptoms at first, which could negatively affect their ability to work, teach, or learn.

For their families?  Their families could quite possibly benefit from the policy if it forces their loved ones who use tobacco to quit.  However, it could affect their families negatively, because smokers/tobacco users tend to use tobacco as a stress-reliever or calming agent.  Without the ability to relieve stress or calm-down throughout the school day, faculty/staff/student tobacco users may soon have negative effects of unrelieved stress, which could spill over into their family lives.

For society?  There is one very important consequence for society: community smoking cessation programs may gain more clients and program participants. Tax dollars that fund some of these programs may become insufficient. 

What is the economic impact of the issue? 

What are the economic costs of the issue, and who bears these costs? Cigarette and tobacco product sales may drop.  This could affect the profit of tobacco selling companies, especially privately owned gas stations and tobacco shops.  Money spent on smoking cessation programs may increase, which ultimately affects the taxpayers.  

What are the economic benefits of the issue, and who benefits? The schools/communities may have an additional form of revenue due to tobacco use violation tickets.  This could benefit taxpayers if enough revenue is generated to require less property taxation for school funding. 

What is the social impact of the issue?

What are the social costs of the issue, and who bears these costs? Socially, the smoking ban will impact the communities of school volunteers, parents, teachers, faculty and students.  The way they interact with one another may change due to a social network link (smoking together) being broken. 

What are the social benefits of the issue, and who benefits?  The school society as a whole benefits from the smoke-free air in regards to their personal health.  Those with respiratory diseases triggered by smoke (such as asthma) will benefit the most from this policy.

What are the barriers?

What are the barriers to addressing this issue? One of the barriers is the implementation of an enforcement policy if the bill were to pass.  One of the criticisms of the smoking ban is that it may move smoking elsewhere, this may also be a barrier to overcome.

How can they be overcome?  The first barrier can be overcome by creating an enforcement policy prior to the implementation of the smoking and tobacco ban.  The second barrier can be overcome by putting smoking ban policies in place for all public places and using the same enforcement strategies throughout.

What are the resources?

What resources will we need to address this issue?  There are two main resources we will need: information and money.  We will need information regarding smoking and tobacco use, secondhand smoke and air quality, number of hours spent on cigarette clean up, number of smokers/tobacco users that will potentially be affected etc. These resources can be tapped through research studies, books, and organizations such as The American Lung Association.  Resources will also need to be obtained from unbiased organizations, books, and researchers.  

We will need money for enforcement officials once the policy is in place.  This money can be accessed through private donations and advocacy work of supporting organizations such as The American Lung Association.  

What is the history of this issue? 

Minnesota enacted the Minnesota Clear Indoor Air Act in 1975, making us the first state to ban smoking in most public places.  At first, this act required restaurants to have a No Smoking section, however bars were exempt from the Act.  On October 1, 2007 Minnesota enacted a complete ban on smoking in all restaurants and bars statewide called the Freedom to Breathe Act of 2007. The city of San Luis Obispo, California became the first city in the world to ban indoor smoking at all public places in 1990.  In 1998, California enacted a statewide smoking ban in the workplace, and its success encouraged other states such as New York to implement bans.  Several states began to start implementing smoking bans in all government buildings throughout the late 1990’s.  The smoking ban and tobacco ban in schools followed shortly after.  Currently, there are 30 states who have a smoking and tobacco ban in public schools (Minnesota being one of them), however not all 30 states have a complete smoking/tobacco ban.

Allies & Opponents

Who would support this issue? The American Lung Association, the organizations who offer smoking cessation programs, anti-smokers/tobacco user groups, youth smoking/tobacco prevention organizations,

Who would oppose this issue? Tobacco industries, gas station/convenience store owners, pro-smokers/tobacco user groups

My Recommendation

I want policy-makers, especially our US senators, to vote yes to S.579 Federal Tobacco Act of 2009. I also want our policy-makers to support The American Lung Association in any project they sponsor or put on regarding smoke free and tobacco free schools.