Addiction Specialist Fights Big Tobacco

"Without her leadership, we would have never been able to secure some of the important tobacco control policies we have in place today," says Donna Beal, program director for the American Lung Association of California in Santa Barbara, in a newsletter.

The association partnered with Dunn and her staff to pass the first ban on self-service tobacco displays in Southern California, tobacco licensing laws in one-third of the cities within the Santa Barbara County, and one of the strongest ordinances regulating outdoor smoking at public and private worksites.

Having started her career in addiction treatment, Dunn said she understands what cigarette smokers are up against.

"I understand the devastation addiction causes," she stated. "It has been particularly gratifying to be part of a movement that has affected such huge changes in social norms. Through this massive grassroots effort, we have been able to change the face of the most populous and diverse state in the nation when it comes to social norms around smoking. Our work is intertwined."

In other environmental news, the American Lung Association is urging citizens to help make a difference in the air you breathe by telling the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set air pollution standards that protect health. According to the association's State of the Air 2007 report released May 1st, the air is still not clean enough to be considered safe to breathe in most of the nation. People most sensitive to ozone smog are children, teens, the elderly, people with asthma and other lung diseases, and even healthy people who work or exercise outdoors.

According to the association, even EPA scientists agreed that the existing standards don't do the job and are too weak to protect people as the Clean Air Act requires.

The EPA is required by the act to determine how much air pollution is safe to have in the outdoor air. They had a group of expert scientists review the research on the health effects of ozone pollution.

"Polluters want weak standards so they don't have to clean up," states association literature.

More information can be found at cleanairstandards.org.

The campaign expiration date is June 30th.

Another campaign launched by the American Lung Association of California, which expires May 30th, involves helping stop diesel pollution.

California has the worst air quality in the country, according to the association and construction and other off-road equipment are major contributors.