The Surgeon General reports that cigarette smoking is a major threat to women's health. ASH protests the appointment of Jerry Apodaca, a director of Philip Morris Co., to chair the President's Council on Physical Fitness. Mr. Apodaca resigns after several months. Both TWA and Pan Am adopt new seating configurations to provide substantially increased protection for nonsmoking passengers, an action triggered by complaints filed by ASH 1981 ASH asks major air carriers to protect nonsmoking passengers from exposure to tobacco smoke while in airports. All the major carriers, except Eastern, eventually comply.
Insurance companies begin offering discounts on life insurance premiums to nonsmokers.
A bill restricting smoking in enclosed public places is signed into law in New Hampshire. The Merit Systems Promotions Board of the Civil Service and the Dept. of Labor rule that employers must make reasonable accommodations to persons sensitive to tobacco smoke. ASH takes the CAB to court to challenge the new rules which reduce the protection provided for nonsmoking passengers. An ASH-inspired lawsuit brought by the FTC against the six major cigarette manufacturers was settled with the companies agreeing to increase the size of warning notices on cigarette billboards. The US Court of Appeals unanimously rules in ASH's favor and orders the CAB to reinstate three previously effective anti-smoking regulations it rescinded in 1981.