It has been a wonderful five years working for the American Lung Association in California and being immersed in the tobacco control world. What have I learned? I’ll let the numbers tell the story.
January 2007 – The tobacco industry just spent $62 million to defeat Proposition 86
January 2012 – The tobacco industry has already spent nearly $3 million and is about to spend tens of millions more in their attempt to defeat the California Cancer Research Act Read More
Are you looking to build a relationship with key opinion leaders for your campaign? If so, have you taken a look at the Center’s newly updated document Tips: How to Make a Pitch? This document will help to prepare you for when opportunity strikes to pitch your campaign and make your ask. But you may be wondering, where the heck do I find these key opinion leaders anyway? Here are some areas in which you may find influential community members:
The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids released their annual report this week on state tobacco control funding and the Master Settlement Agreement. Titled A Broken Promise to Our Children: The 1998 State Tobacco Settlement 13 Years Later, this report details how much each state spends on tobacco control compared to the recommendation from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This is an interesting read every year and especially this year to see some of the hard truths about spending on tobacco control including the fact that states decreased funding for tobacco control programs by 12 percent in the past year.
Looking at this report, I can’t help but wonder what it could look like next year and for years to come if California voters pass the California Cancer Research Act (CCRA) next June. Matthew Myers, the president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, has stated, “Next year, California voters can make their state a leader again in the fight against tobacco by approving the California Cancer Research Act.” Read More
Any Mad Men fans out there? C’mon, it’s okay to admit it, we’ve all got our guilty pleasures. Besides noticing how awesome Jon Hamm and Christina Hendricks are, does anyone also notice the amount of copious smoking that takes place during the AMC show? I can only speak for myself, but since working in the field of tobacco control, my tobacco radar is gone through the roof! Which is why while watching ABC’s new fall show Pan Am, I was drawn to the…lack of smoking.
Despite the fact that both shows take place during the 60s Read More
Ever since it was introduced last year, there have been a lot of questions about SB 332. And now that it will soon go into effect (on January 1, 2012) there is still much confusion and questions are still being raised. Just last week in West Hollywood there was news that the city council was worried that the state law would trump their rent control laws and permit landlords to impose new smoking restrictions on tenants, allowing them to evict long time tenants.
In fact, SB 332 does not create any new landlord rights. The law simply codifies in state law that landlords have the legal authority to prohibit smoking in the apartments that they own and manage. This was a right that landlords already had prior to this state law. The state law explicitly requires landlords to abide by local laws regarding changes to the terms of tenancy. For cities with rent control, including West Hollywood, this means that tenants who smoke cannot be forced to accept new lease terms regarding smoking.
If you have questions about the bill, the Center just released a new factsheet going through some of the details of the bill. We also released a community organizing update with some ways that you can take advantage of this new law and use it to promote your smokefree housing work.
–Vanessa Marvin
