BACKGROUND: Today's document reveals overall industry strategy to help defeat
proposed bans on indoor smoking, and links this strategy's similarity to
the one they sucessfully used to defeat efforts aimed at attaining
fire-safe cigarettes:
The central argument ACWA Atlantic, Inc, (a firm specilaizing on indoor
air quality) makes is that indoor smoke is merely a symptom of a larger
problem: inadequate ventilation. Inadequate ventilation causes several
serious problems including fungus and bacterial contamination. These
pollutants often cause illness and discomfort which are then blamed on
cigarette smoke--a more visible and socially acceptable object of
attack.
We should refocus our efforts against smoking restriction legislation
and regulation to a general promotion of comprehensive indoor air
quality review and improvement. This is analagous to our effort on the
'self-extinguishing' cigarette to focus on overall fire prevention and
isolate its supporters as anti-smoking.
Strategy:
1. Mobilize all scientific studies of indoor air quality (i.e., radon,
wood stoves, gas stoves, formaldehyde, asbestos, etc.) into a general
indictment of the air we breathe indoors. Use a scientific front --
especially some liberal Nader group.
2. Use this material to fuel PR offensive on poor indoor air quality.
3. Create a model indoor air quality bill to be added to suggested
state legislation book published annually. Model bill would focus on
ventilation, filters, inspections, etc. Smoking would not be dealt with
directly.
4. Make presentations to all trade associations (USC of C, NMA, API,
etc.) on the real indoor air quality issues.
5. Organize firms like ACVA into travelling road show to hawk their
wares to government and businesses much like the antis sell their advice
to business and government on smoking policies.
To exectue this program would require money, staff time and a first-rate
PR firm.
[all emphasis in original]
