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Tobacco Assistance Legal Center new and updated fact sheets
The Technical Assistance Legal Center (TALC) has just released a new fact sheet, “How Disability Laws Can Help Tenants Suffering from Drifting Tobacco Smoke.”  The fact sheet is designed for people who have a medical condition made worse by secondhand smoke drifting into their apartment.  If a tenant has a respiratory disability (such as asthma), a landlord may be required to make changes to accommodate the tenant’s disability. TALC’s fact sheet explains who qualifies for protection under disability laws, what constitutes a “reasonable accommodation,” and how tenants can make their request most effectively.  Two other fact sheets on smokefree housing have also been updated: “Legal Options for Tenants Suffering from Drifting Tobacco Smoke” and “How Landlords Can Prohibit Smoking in Rental Housing.”   For questions about these fact sheets, contact TALC staff attorney Robin Salsburg at (510) 444-8252, ext. 376 or rsalsburg@phlpnet.org, or visit TALC’s website at www.talc.phi.org.

Revised model ordinance for tobacco retail licensing
The Technical Assistance Legal Center (TALC) is pleased to introduce a revised model ordinance for communities that wish to use licensing as a tool to encourage compliance with laws that apply to tobacco sales. The most significant change in the revised licensing ordinance is that TALC has drafted a series of 12 optional “plug-in” provisions to supplement the ordinance, each of which provides a different policy option. For example, one “plug-in” prohibits tobacco retailing in a residential zone, while another prohibits the sale of tobacco in businesses that allow smoking on the premises. As always, the revised ordinance can be adopted essentially “as is” by communities that want to adopt a basic licensing ordinance with all the essential components. Communities that want to include additional policies can incorporate as many of the plug-in provisions as they want. (Note that the plug-ins cannot be adopted independently -- they can only be incorporated into the model ordinance.) Click here to download copies of the revised ordinance and plug-ins from TALC’s website.

Smoking ban faces legal test (IA)
A group of business owners and citizens led by the Iowa Bar Owners Coalition have filed a petition challenging the constitutionality of Iowa’s new smokefree law. The petition claims that the smoking ban harms small businesses by interfering with their right to “pursue useful and lawful businesses without oppressive regulations.” The petition also contends that smoke-free compliance checks would amount to illegal searches without probable cause. The plaintiffs will ask for a hold to be put on the ban until a court rules on its constitutionality. The plaintiffs’ attorney also takes issue with the short amount of time the public had to adjust to the law. The smoke-free law went into effect July 1, which left only two and a half months for legislators to lay out the specifics of the new law’s enforcement and interpretation. Read more here.

Supreme Court cases could shield drug, tobacco companies from product liability lawsuits
If drug maker Wyeth wins its appeal of a liability case in the Supreme Court, it could become easier for companies to defend themselves against product liability lawsuits. The case, and a similar case against Altria Group, Inc., will decide when federal laws pre-empt, or override, state laws on product liability. Altria, which owns tobacco giant Philip Morris, is fighting a lawsuit (Altria v. Good) that claims it violated a state law by deceptively marketing cigarettes as “light.” Altria contends that the case is pre-empted by federal laws. The decision on the Altria case would determine whether state or federal law allows consumers to sue tobacco companies for misleading marketing practices. The outcome could potentially affect over thirty lawsuits involving the marketing of “light” cigarettes. Click here to read more, or click here for information on a related amicus curiae brief filed by the Tobacco Control Legal Consortium.

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