Tobacco Documents Online

T1mNATIoNAL SMO'KERS ALLIA'r1{CE'. Mission Statement The National Smokers Alliance (NSA) is a newly created organization with a mission to preserve, protect and~ defend' every adult's freedom to smoke. Based in Alexandria, Va., the organization is building a geographically and demographically diverse membership representing a broad' cross section of American citizens. Its members are politically active adults who support the freedom of choice to smoke and are no longer willing to let smokers be treated as second-clJass citizens. They are mobilized and ready to fight for the accommodation of their rights at the local, state and federal levelL Specifically, the NSA is working,to halt the country's movement towards the prohibition of smoking, It is opposed to the imposit6= of smoking bans and other divisive actions. Instead, the NSA advocates accommodation as a reasonable, rational resolution to the situations confronting smokers and nonsmokers today. NSA believes that reason should dominate w h'le negotiating smoking policies, and that the protection, of individual rights is the most ~ important goal. Complete bans are iurational when1 there are ways in which both the rights of nonsmokers and smokers can be : aceommodated in all places. The NSA also is against di scriminatory hiring practices. The organization believes that employers have no right to ! base employment decisions on, such personal choices as smoking. Further, the NSA is against other unfair practices that discriminate against smokers, such as raising excise taxes on tobacco prodwcts at the state and' federal level. NSA does not believe in targeting any one group to finance a national or state program that benefits the entire population. The~NSA views the recent decision bythe U:S. Envi'ronmental Protection Agency on1 secondhand smoke to be politically motivated and designed to force complete smoking bans in the workplace: The NSA believes the report, lacks scientific credibility. The NSA is ani advocate of peer-reviewed, credible scientific studies on such issues: The NSA's goal is to lprovade its rnembers with ia highly visible, national platform in support of their eauses. The NSA strives to ensure that its members' voices, are heard! and that action is taken at all levels of government and business against excessive infringements on smokers' rights. The NSA will provide its members with the necessary tools and~ power to speak out and fight against discriminatory behavior. N O N The NSA continues to grow as a, powerful and politically viable organization. Its doctrine is ej fiimly rooted in the belief that protecting an individual's right to choose while accommodating O the desires of both smokers and nonsmokers is eminently achievable, and is the key to fair and N ~ rational decision making in today's public realm. ~

P To summarize, the NS,A's goals are to:. • Empower smokers through an organization that will develop a national politiicall campaign for the accommodation of smokers' rights • Identify, recruit, educate and mobilize a powerful' a(liance of smokers" rights activists throughout the Ututed~ States • Develop and organize resistance to infringement of smokers' rights at the federal, state and local level • Send messages to employers and retailers showing smokers as a powerful economic and political force prepared to vigorously defend their rights to smoke • Provide a variety of opportunities for participation in smokers' rights activities