Open AccessThe Duluth Clean Indoor Air Ordinance: Problems and Success in Fighting the Tobacco Industry at the Local Level in the 21st Century
Author(s) -
Theodore H. Tsoukalas,
Stanton A. Glantz
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
american journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.284
H-Index - 264
eISSN - 1541-0048
pISSN - 0090-0036
DOI - 10.2105/ajph.93.8.1214
Subject(s) - tobacco industry , referendum , tobacco control , environmental health , control (management) , public health , business , construct (python library) , political science , law , economics , medicine , management , politics , nursing , computer science , programming language
Case study methodology was used to investigate the tobacco industry's strategies to fight local tobacco control efforts in Duluth, Minn. The industry opposed the clean indoor air ordinance indirectly through allies and front groups and directly in a referendum. Health groups failed to win a strong ordinance because they framed it as a youth issue rather than a workplace issue and failed to engage the industry's economic claims. Opponents' overexploitation of weaknesses in the ordinance allowed health advocates to construct a stronger version. Health advocates should assume that the tobacco industry will oppose all local tobacco control measures indirectly, directly, or both. Clean indoor air ordinances should be framed as workplace safety issues.