FAQS

Where can I get anti-smoking posters
and anti-tobacco educational materials?

The best people to call for free anti-smoking posters in your city will likely be the tobacco coordinator at the local county health department.

Second, free brochures and tobacco prevention posters may be available from your local branches of the American Lung Association, American Cancer Society or American Heart Association.

At the above organizations, always ask to speak to the person assigned to tobacco control.

In some States, distribution of posters may be limited to schools and institutions.

Great posters are also available for a nominal cost at www.buttout.com.

Another great tobacco prevention resource is to bring in a well known speaker to give an assembly program at your school.

Tobaccofree.org also manages bookings for Patrick Reynolds, the grandson of R.J. Reynolds who spoke out against the tobacco industry publicly, after smoking killed his father, RJ Reynolds, Jr.

Large hospitals often fully fund Mr. Reynolds' talks for youth and adults as a community outreach; it's often just a matter of calling the Director of Marketing to suggest the idea.

Talking points and who to call locally may be found at www.tobaccofree.org/volunteer/

One reason that Mr. Reynolds' live program at schools is a good fit for local hospitals is that his talks get positive and strong local news coverage, which builds community goodwill for the sponsoring hospitals. Sometimes two or more hospitals will join to co-sponsor him. It's an excellent opportunity for community outreach for them.

Non-profit hospitals in particular are often obliged by their charters to spend excess funds on community outreach.

Info on Patrick Reynolds' live program may be found at www.tobaccofree.org/patrick.htm or scroll further down this page.

For information on the bestselling educational video of Mr. Reynolds' live talk to youth, please visit www.tobaccofree.org/videotruth.htm

How to research specific questions about any tobacco issue

Students and journalists may easily obtain current news articles on second hand smoke, teen smoking, quitting, lawsuits and many other issues

At this time, we do not have staff available to answer your questions personally. We are now working to become better funded, and ask for your patience, and to read on.

Here are three useful ways to get the specific information you seek:

1. For questions you have about tobacco issues, try searching the www.tobacco.org Daily News archives. You can also subscribe to Tobacco.org's free Daily News, if the topic is of ongoing interest to you. This is a data base of over 100,000 news articles concerning tobacco; it is compiled daily from four major US newspapers. You can also sign up to get free daily tobacco news summaries sent to you. But do search the database for your topic of interest.

2. We invite middle and high school students to go to our Message to Youth page. Scroll down and scan the sub-titles -- chances are very good that you will find the answer to your question, or at least find info on your topic of interest. Do the work! Read and you will find the answers!

3. We also encourage students to print out pages directly from our website. Before printing, be sure to first click on the Printer friendly version link at the top of most pages. Take a little time to study the pages at www.notobacco.org, our cool site for youth. And this site's links page offers descriptions and links to plenty of other great anti-smoking sites for youth. Check it and see!

Get the Daily Anti-Tobacco News

Receive current tobacco stories in today's news, daily!

Subscribe to your topic of interest: second hand smoke, teen smoking, quitting, news by State, etc. Subscribers can receive a free daily email with 5 to 10 top news stories on tobacco, or you have the option to receive just the area of the Daily News that interests you -- teen smoking, second hand smoke, quitting smoking, the tobacco lawsuits, and so on. You can also limit the news to issues within your own State, or you can get it all!

We recommend that you subscribe to just the top news stories, unless you enjoy lots of reading. There is a great deal of tobacco news every day.

To subscribe, go to www.tobacco.org. In the left column, under Tobacco News, click Subscribe. You can easily unsubscribe at any time.

Volunteering

Donations, time, and volunteer speakers

Above all, the Foundation for a Smokefree America needs volunteers to send in donations, so that we may hire a professional grant proposal writer and build our endowment. In turn, this will lead to the excellent programs we now have planned. We're a tax-exempt, non-profit 501-C3 organization.

If you wish to donate time or services, we recommend volunteering for your local tobaccofree coalition, or for your local branch of the American Lung Association, American Cancer Society or American Heart Association. Any of the latter groups should be able to tell you the phone number of your local tobaccofree coalition. Most cities have one, even in rural areas, and they are much in need of volunteers and concerned community members to join them.

Those who wish to speak to youth at schools should work through the local branches of the above groups. It's also important to video your live talks, so that your current video may later be previewed by schools. Great material for a live talk will be found on our Message to Youth page.

One of our Foundation's planned programs is to create a speakers bureau for speakers specializing in tobacco education. We are now working within our movement for more of this important form of education.

Live motivational talks
and new educational video

Tobaccofree.org will be pleased to respond to inquiries about Patrick Reynolds' live talks or his educational video for grades 7-12. The local hospital's Marketing Director or Community Relations director will often fund his live talk at a middle or high school, as these usually get good press coverage, which is a community goodwill booster for the sponsoring hospital. View the Five Minute Plan and make one local call to see.

Please include your daytime phone number or email. The website for information about live talks and also the educational video is TobaccoFree.org.

If you would like printed information mailed to you about Mr. Reynolds' live talks or educational video, we ask that you instead support us by printing out the information packages on these from the url www.tobaccofree.org/infopack.htm. You may also email us at See Contact link on left pane or call us, but please contact us only with regard to the video or live talks. Please include your phone number.

Otherwise, we are understaffed at this time, are not yet funded to answer general questions. In the future, we hope to be able to welcome all questions.

Quitting smoking

If you are quitting smoking, or know someone who would like to, please print out or forward them our Quitting Tips page. And our Quitlinks page lists the top Internet resources for quitting, including several teen stop smoking sites.

Asking a smoker to go outside

If a person smokes near you in the public place where smoking is banned, smile, give them an honest complement. Get them on your side, for openers. Then, in your nicest tone of voice, still smiling kindly, express your discomfort, and ask them if they would mind smoking outside. Don't nag a loved one to quit -- ask no more than three times a year -- but you may be a pest every day about second hand smoke, as that hurts you, and is very much your business.

What to do when smoking is banned,
but smokers are still lighting up

Here's a suggestion, if smoke troubles you in a public place where the law bans smoking. First, if there is a specific smoker near you whose smoke is particularly bothering you, as described just above, put on a warm smile and give them the smoker an honest complement. After they respond, nicely ask them if they would mind smoking outside.

If the smoker persists in smoking, ask any employee who the manager is. Talk to the manager about your discomfort. If they refuse to intervene, let the manager know that you will report his or her establishment to the health department, and that it's possible they will send someone there to issue a substantial fine. Ask them for their name, and for the name of their boss. Let them know that repeated fines for such offenses in some areas may result in a suspension of their license to do business.

Perhaps the manager will help you then, and will ask the smokers violating the ban to go outside. The groups listed just below may also be helpful to you, but remember, due to funding cuts, most are struggling at this time -- and donations, large or small, are always welcome!

Got smoke from a neighbor's apartment?

Links to groups fighting to ban smoking, to protect nonsmokers

For more info, we recommend you contact Americans for Nonsmokers Rights at Tel 1(510)841-3032, or email them at anr@no-smoke.org. Ask for their free apartment package. Also see their web url, www.no-smoke.org/condo.html.

A new website listing smokefree apartment buildings is www.smokefreeapartments.org, sponsored by the LA group, Smokefree Air for Everyone.

Some common-sense advice: we suggest you begin by having a friendly conversation -- and also sending a warm letter -- to your neighbor about your discomfort. Open a file, and keep a copy of your letter to document your efforts to resolve the problem.

Sadly, no one we know refers people to attorneys on this issue.

Your idea for a TV spot, or other creative concept

You should know that we do not accept ideas from the public! We presently have no funding to produce them or get them on TV. Sometimes we get inundated with them. Please refrain from sending them to us, unless you work in a professional advertising agency.

Who does have the funding for anti-smoking TV ads? States with tobacco lawsuit settlement dollars or cigarette tax money appropriated by the State Legislature for TV, radio, print and billboard ads. (To see which States have the funding, see the next FAQ, below.)

Here's how the ads get on TV: the Tobacco Control office in the Public Health Department of each State's capitol usually holds a competition among top regionally based advertising agencies, and they decide which one will land the prized State account to create the anti-tobacco ads for that State's ad campaign.

These advertising agencies almost never accept creative ideas from the public. The largest such ad account is awarded by the American Legacy Foundation in Washington DC. Legacy is the national anti-tobacco foundation created with $1.45 billion from settlement funds resulting from the States' lawsuits against Big Tobacco. The $1.5 billion set aside to create Legacy amounts to less than 1% of the States' total $240 billion tobacco settlement.

Because ad agencies do not accept outside creative ideas, contacting them is very likely a waste of your time. If you have a degree in advertising and marketing, and are persistent enough to get employed by one of the agencies handling a tobacco education account, then you may find an ear at the advertising agency!

Instead, we recommend you try to get your ad idea produced at the local level, perhaps through your local tobaccofree coalition. Ask the nearest branch of the American Cancer Society for their number; they may also have some ideas for you. Contact your local Public Access cable channel to see whether it could be aired at the local level. You might also be able to enlist your local radio DJ to produce.

Schoolwide poster contests among students are a great idea.

Radio spots are also an excellent way to go, as they are cheap and easy to produce. After you make one, try getting some local radio stations to air your ad, as a public service announcement. Radio stations are often responsive to local community members. ACTION STEP: Write a script for a radio ad, submit it to local radio stations and with luck and perseverance, the radio station may produce and air it for you.

How much funding does my State
have for tobacco education programs?

To find out , simply visit www.tobaccofree.kids.org/reports/settlements Sadly, only a few States have allocated even the minimum funding receded by the CDC for an effective tobacco education program. While many States have cut or eliminated their tobacco education programs in 2003, 17 other States increased funding for theirs. Overall there was a net decline in funding. The url above will give you the up-to-date scoop. You will first get an overview, including a color coded map of the US showing States that have funding. You may also click on a drop down menu of the States to see which ones have the most funding for tobacco control.

Selling advertising space?
Want an anti-smoking ad in your publication?

Contact the American Legacy Foundation in Washington DC, and find out whether they have an ad agency placing advertising at the national level.

Also check out the individual State Health Departments, as some of them still have an advertising budget, which will usually be handled by a local ad agency. Their mandate is typically to advertise only within their own State.

First go to the link in the paragraph just above, and find out which States have the most money for tobacco prevention. They are the most likely States to have funds allocated for advertising.

Call the main State Department of Public Health in each State's capitol city. Ask for the Director of Tobacco Control.

Ask their assistant (or the Director if you get through) which ad agency currently has the tobacco prevention and cessation account.

Contact that ad agency to see if they will consider placing an ad with you.

We're happy to provide you with this information, and all we ask is that you let us know your experience after you follow the steps above. Your feedback will enable us to update this part of our FAQs page. See our Contact link in the left pane, near the top.

Your potential lawsuit against the tobacco industry
Resources for becoming a plaintiff

Potential plaintiffs may contact the Tobacco Trial Lawyers Association, which has a national network of lawyers who represent plaintiffs in tobacco litigation. Their website is www.ttlaonline.com.

Another resource is the Tobacco Control Resource Center (TCRC), located in Massachusetts, 617-373-2026. This center has a litigation referral section that specializes in linking plaintiffs with tobacco law attorneys, based on location and other needs. The litigation section on TCRC's website is www.tobacco.neu.edu/litigation/referrals.htm.

A selection of GLOBALink News Bulletins and resources is available on http://www.globalink.org/tobacco/ Access is free of charge, but password protected. To join GLOBALink, visit: http://join.globalink.org/ or email hq@globalink.org.

www.Tobacco.org offers a great free email subscription to the Daily Tobacco News from 224 nations. You may select among them, and get the news daily or weekly, from only the nations you choose. See the Tobacco.org instructions, close to the top of this page.

Sadly, as of November 2002, the Bush Administration is continuing to thwart a new global treaty to limit tobacco advertising. This article tells the story, which says, "'The future of Philip Morris lies in the developing world,' said Ross Hammond, an activist affiliated with the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids... More importantly, the company has showered Republican politicians with money to get its point across. According to public records, Philip Morris contributed $2.7 million to Republican causes in the most recent election cycle, compared with a risk-hedging $538,000 handed to the Democrats. Since 1989, the company has lavished no less than $14.3 million on its Republican friends, making it one of the the party's largest donors."

Another good resource is ASH, or Action on Smoking and Health, 6 Fitzhardinge Street, London W1H 9PL UK Tel: 0171-224 0743 Fax: 0171-224 0471 (Check with the operator for the new London area codes, as they may have recently changed.)

www.prevention.ch is overseen by Jean Charles Rielle, a leading Swiss tobaccofree activist. Mostly in French, the site offers links to top international tobacco control resources.

See our links page for additional resources.

Learn more about Smokefree America

Learn more about Smokefree America, our mission, new programs and how to donate at www.anti-smoking.org/info.

Smokefree America's plans for the future

The Foundation for a Smokefree America is hopeful that we will receive grants and endowment to add staff, and that we will eventually be able to respond personally to emails from students and the public. Our future plans include several wonderful programs which will make a difference.

Our heartfelt thanks to you for your caring about the problem of tobacco use. Working together, we will succeed in bringing about a Smokefree America.

We hope our websites are helpful to you.

Yours for a Smokefree Society,

Patrick Reynolds

Executive Director, Smokefree America & Tobaccofree.org

Our websites

As of September, 2004, we get a
total of 60,000 unique visitors per month!

Site for youth
www.notobacco.org

Live motivational talks and educational video
www.tobaccofree.org

Smokefree America
www.anti-smoking.org

Quitting Smoking
www.tobaccofree.com