Anne Landman's Collection
Denver Mayor's Letter
Abstract
In a May 1991 letter, Federico Peña (the mayor of Denver, Colorado) writes to Louis Sullivan, the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, about his efforts to reduce or eliminate people's exposure to secondhand smoke from tobacco products. Mayor Peña talks about the difficulties he encountered from the tobacco industry in trying to make the city's new airport (then in the planning stages) 100% smoke-free. Revealing a major tobacco industry tactic, Mayor Peña says "The tobacco industry targeted the airport restrictions with a massive lobbying effort which included an 800 number the industry set up so that people from throughout the country could call members of [Denver's] city council at no expense. City Council bowed to the pressure and passed an ordinance repealing the restrictions at the airport."
Mayor Peña discussed how restricting smoking in the existing airport made a "significant difference in the indoor air quality compared to other airports throughout the country." He urges the Secretary to support efforts throughout the country to restrict smoking in airports saying, "It's clearly a matter of health."
Fields
- Notes
Denver's new airport opened in 1996 and still has smoking lounges. Despite a vow from Walker Merryman of the Tobacco Institute that the tobacco industry would refuse to pay for smoking lounges in the airport, the lounges were quietly subsidized by Philip Morris through a restaurant chain called "Pour Le France", so that it appeared that Pour Le France established the smoking lounges. Philip Morris worked to keep its name invisible in this effort. For details of the Denver International Airport smoking lounge caper, see our recent report on Tobacco Industry Involvement in Colorado (available for free at www.alacolo.org)
- Quotes
Dear Secretary Sullivan,
I wanted to take a few moments of your time to inform you of actions taken in Denver to reduce the exposure of people to dangerous secondhand smoke from tobacco products. As you know, an independent scientific advisory panel has recommended that EPA classify secondhand smoke as a Class A carcinogen, the most hazardous category of cancer-causing agents. It is because of these health concerns that action has been taken to reduce or eliminate exposure to secondhand smoke, particularly in the workplace. Several years ago the City passed an ordinance requiring the establishment of smoking and non-smoking areas in the workplace. The City found that designated areas were ineffective for three reasons. First, smoke had a tendency to drift from the smoking areas into non-smoking areas. Second, the ventilation systems circulated the smoke throughout the building. Finally, some smokers did not limit their smoking to the designated areas. We tried this system for four years. Last summer the City Employee Wellness Committee recommended that smoking be prohibited in all indoor City facilitles. On July 2, 1990, I issued an executive order (copy enclosed) which prohibits smoking in all City indoor facilities. Some of the locations are given a period of time before the ban takes effect. For example, the arena had one year before compliance was required. Most employee office bans took effect last October.
Beginning this last January smoking at Stapleton International Airport was limited to the bars and some of the restaurants. Smoking is not allowed in the waiting areas at the gates. This restriction has been in effect for four months and is working well. You can notice a significant difference in the indoor air quality as compared to other airports throughout the country. Smoking will be completely prohibited at the new Denver International Airport. This effort was not without controversy. The tobacco industry targeted the airport restrictions with a massive lobbying effort which included an 800, number so that people from throughout the country could call members of City Council at no expense. City Council bowed to the pressure and passed an ordinance repealing the restrictions at the airport. I vetoed that legislation and Council has been unable to override my veto. I would like to see other airports in the country move to prohibit smoking. I hope that you will support efforts throughout the country to restrict indoor smoking in airports and other public facilities. It is clearly a matter of health.
Sincerely,
Federico Pena MAYOR
- Company
- Philip Morris
- Author
- Pena, Federico (Mayor of Denver, Colorado (1983-1992))
- Recipient
- Sullivan, Louis, M.D. (Secretary, U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services)
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