Robert F. Drinan

Robert F. Drinan was a legal ethicist at Georgetown University, and served as a Plaintiff's Expert in legal cases against the tobacco industry. He also served as a congressman during which time he introduced the "Smoker and Non-Smoker Health Protection Act of 1975." The bill was designed to protect the rights of non-smokers. It was the first of its kind to be introduced at the federal level. The legislation would have required all federal agencies to adopt regulations to prohibit smoking in their elevators, hallways, conference rooms, reception areas, and in areas serving the general public where the effective separation of smokers from non-smokers would not be practical. It would have established separate smoking sections in cafeterias, recreation areas and lounges of federal buildings, and separated smokers and nonsmokers in their work areas to the extent feasible. It would have required that the rights of nonsmokers be takeninto account in the planning of any new federal office space. A separate title of the bill, "The Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act of 1975" would have strengthened the then-existing Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act in a number of ways: it would have altered the cigarette package warning label to reflect the latest medical evidence regarding smoking and disease. The new, strengthened warning label would have read: "Warning: Cigarette Smoking Is Dangerous to Health, and May Cause Death from Cancer, Coronary Heart Disease, Chronic Bronchitis, Pulmonary Emphysema, and other Diseases. " Second, the bill would have required that cigarette tar and nicotine content be printed on every package and disclosed in every cigarette advertisement to enable smokers to shop comparatively for the least noxious product.

= Biography =


 * Director Emerit, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
 * Advisory Council, Center for UN Reform Education
 * Former President, Americans for Democratic Action (1981–1984)

Related Sourcewatch articles

 * Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act