
For this he credits Augsburg, and says, "service to others was always portrayed as the reason
Augsburg College existed."
Fairbanks spent more than 30 years working on Indian reservations for the U.S. Public Health Service,
and continued his dedication to a life in public health by promoting the hospice movement and
campaigning to lower the D.U.I. limits in Arizona.
However, Fairbanks is best known for his work to ban smoking in hospitals. He remembers that in the
1950s, "workplaces and hospitals were like smoke-filled dungeons. No one else seemed willing to stand
up for those most affected because of a risk of offending someone." Fairbanks added, "I started the
movement because someone needed to do it."
It has been this fight against the tobacco and liquor industries that Fairbanks has found to be the most
challenging—yet most rewarding—part of his career. For his work, Fairbanks has earned several
awards and honors, including an appointment in the early 1980s by then-Surgeon General C. Everett
Koop to expand the ban on smoking to include all public facilities.
Although retired in 2000 from Cigna HealthCare where he worked as a family physician, Fairbanks has
continued his involvement in public health service. He currently serves as president of Arizonans
Concerned About Smoking, and also serves as ex-officio member of the Executive Committee for
International Network Towards Smoke-Free Hospitals, a London-based organization that works to
promote smoke-free hospitals around the world.
Reflecting upon his career, Fairbanks embraces Martin Luther's quote, "a man's work is his mission,"
and concludes, "my work has been my mission and continues to be."
Arizona Smoke-Free History:
The work of ACAS, to achieve health promoting smoke-free workplaces for all employed workers,
actually began informally in 1957 with President Leland L. Fairbanks as a U.S. Public Health physician
and tobacco control advocate.
Our founder, Betty Carnes, began her smoke-free advocacy work starting in 1964, following the First U.
S. Surgeon General’s Report by Dr Luther Terry. Her early work some 30 years ago is documented in
the Pulitzer prize-winning book, Ashes to Ashes: America’s Hundred-Year Cigarette War by Richard
Kluger, (1996). "The crusade led by a Scottsdale woman, Betty Carnes [who] laid siege to the Arizona
legislature for its 1972 & 1973 terms [resulted in] the first "serious anti-smoking rules". (op. cit. p. 374)
Since then ACAS, incorporated in 1977, has continued to lead many local and statewide tobacco control
efforts, as an effective citizen-based, non-profit, tax exempt corporation whose purpose is "To Save
Lives" and "to achieve tobacco free environments".
Fighting tobacco nothing new for Liberia RPCV
Fighting tobacco nothing new for retired doctor*
*By Edythe Jensen The Arizona Republic May 26, 2002
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Where there's smoke, there's Leland Fairbanks.
The retired Tempe physician has spent more than half his life
fighting public puffing and was the first to push for smoke-free
hospitals more than 20 years ago.
"They call me a Taliban health czar, but they respect me," he said of opponents. "I don't grab people
and pull cigarettes from their mouths."
Last week Fairbanks put another notch in his belt when Tempe voters approved the state's strictest
smoking ban, with 52 percent of the vote. After the City Council failed to pass the measure, Fairbanks'
Arizonans Concerned about Smoking gathered more than 12,500 signatures to force the public vote.
Born and educated in Minnesota, Fairbanks, 71, retired from private practice last year. But he has been
putting in hundreds of volunteer hours on anti-smoking campaigns since he moved his family to the
Valley in 1970.
Fairbanks, grabbing attention with almost non-stop talking about the health effects of secondhand
smoke, is usually surrounded by a cadre of followers wearing yellow campaign T-shirts.
He says he's polite about it and has never felt threatened by opponents.
One of them is Fred Phillis, 61, of Gilbert. The lifelong smoker calls Fairbanks "the leader of a group of
tobacco terrorists." But he blames smokers and business owners for the doctor's success in Tempe.
"They let Leland Fairbanks and his band of exploitation artists set the agenda," Phillis said. "You can't
win a campaign by playing defense."
A onetime public health physician and Peace Corps volunteer in Liberia, Fairbanks started his crusade
in the 1950s when he was as a hospital intern in New Orleans.
"Merchant seaman with lung disease were struggling to breathe, but they still wanted their cigarettes,"
he said. "Nurses would have to remove the oxygen and hold the cigarettes so they wouldn't drop and set
the beds on fire. And the nurses would have to breathe that smoke. I decided then that I was going to be
an advocate for those nurses."
He pushed for a ban on smoking in hospitals and complained when Phoenix volunteers were giving out
cigarettes to hospitalized veterans in the 1970s . But Fairbanks didn't make headway until 1983, when
the Hopi Hospital in Keams Canyon became the first in the nation to become smoke-free.
"We decided the best tactic is to get one hospital to do it, then others will follow," he said. "It worked, and
it's the same tactic we're using in cities."
As an opponent of smoking, Fairbanks has won over politicians from Tucson to Flagstaff. In addition to
Tempe, Mesa, Gilbert, Guadalupe, Surprise, Tucson, Flagstaff, and Pima County have smoking
restrictions. Maricopa County is considering limits. Fairbanks played a part in all those efforts, circulating
petitions, organizing local residents and speaking to government leaders.
"Lee is one of those rare people who has a passion for his values," says Tempe Mayor Neil Giuliano,
who has known Fairbanks for eight years but says he has heard him talk about something other than
smoking only once. It was last fall, when Giuliano faced a recall election and Fairbanks told the mayor he
supported him.
During the Keams Canyon hospital smoking debate, "they predicted doctors and nurses would resign,
but they didn't," Fairbanks said. When federal health officials wanted to add a smoking room to that
hospital, he called their bluff. "I told them if they were going to force us to put in a smoking room, it would
be have to be in the morgue," he said. "They dropped the issue."
Fairbanks' activity drew national note. From 1985 to 1988 he was a member of the Surgeon General's
National Advisory Committee on Smoking and Health.
He carries his cause home. A "no smoking" sign hangs on Fairbanks' front door because he said it's not
nice to tell a smoker to extinguish a lit cigarette: "That's like telling someone to stop eating once they've
started on a nice meal."
Hung above the anti-smoking stickers, campaign signs and T-shirts in Fairbanks' tiny Mesa anti-smoking
campaign office is a yellowing poster signed by former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop. "A
Smoke-Free Society by 2000," it reads.
Is it a sign of his movement's failure?
"No," Fairbanks said. "I'm old, and I've been working on this a long time. But I'm still working on it."
Leland Fairbanks grew up in a poverty-stricken home in
Harmony, Minn., during the depression-era years and has since
applied this experience to his life's work. Helping others has
become his passion, his trademark, and his calling—and
through this he has learned that "life is more than just earning a
living."
A 1953 graduate of Augsburg with bachelor's degrees in
sociology and chemistry, Fairbanks went on to receive his
medical training from the University of Minnesota Medical
School and his master's degree in public health from the
University of Oklahoma.
Leland Fairbanks' decision to enter
the field of medicine forever changed
his life, leading him to discover a
career in public health. (Photo © The
Business Journal of Phoenix)
Although he yearned to be a missionary, Fairbanks' decision to
enter the field of medicine forever changed his life, leading him
to discover that service to others could be his mission.
Dr Fairbanks Honors Some of the many Tucson Arizona Volunteers
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Brief History of Tobacco Control in Tucson & Pima County, Arizona
1972 - Tucson: First city ordinance in Arizona to restrict smoking in public places (e.g. public
theaters, motion picture houses, Tucson Community Center arena, music hall or little theater).
Promoted by Tucson GASP (Group Against Smoking Pollution).
1976 – Citizen’s Concerned About Smoking & Health founded in Tucson. Name later changed to
Smoking & Health Action Coalition (SHAC). And, in 1980, SHAC name changed to Nonsmoker, Inc.
1976 – Tucson: Ordinance to prohibit smoking in public areas of food, drug and department stores
(promoted by Citizens Concerned About Smoking & Health and Tucson GASP).
1985 – Tucson: First city workplace smoking control ordinance in Arizona. First successful
workplace ballot initiative against the tobacco industry in the United States. The tobacco
industry directly paid for 92.3% of the opposition campaign.(Campaign coordinated by Nonsmokers Inc.).
1986 – Worked with groups and individuals throughout the state of Arizona to successfully oppose the
first attempt by the Arizona legislature to preempt local control of clean indoor air laws.
1987 – Pima County: First county workplace smoking control ordinance in Arizona. (Campaign
spearheaded by Nonsmokers, Inc.)
1987 thru 1989 - Worked with organizations and individuals across the nation to enact a federal
smoking ban on all flights of 2 hours or less, and eventually, of 6 hours of less.
1988 – Tucson: Major expansion of ordinance provisions for smoke-free public places. (Campaign
spearheaded by Nonsmokers, Inc.)
1989 – Pima County: Major expansion of ordinance provisions for smoke-free public places
(Campaign spearheaded by Nonsmokers, Inc.)
1990 thru 1993 – Smoke-free/tobacco-free school district policies – and smoke-free hospital for
southern Arizona. (Campaigns spearheaded by Nonsmokers, Inc.)
1993 – Tucson: Ordinance to eliminate tobacco sales in vending machines, except in bars with class 6
liquor license. (Campaign spearheaded by Nonsmokers, Inc.)
1994 – Worked with organizations and individuals across Arizona to pass a statewide ballot initiative to
raise the state tobacco tax to fund tobacco education and prevention programs.
1996 thru 2000 – Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Full Court Press grant project to reduce youth
tobacco use in Tucson.
1997 – Tucson: Arizona’s first local law to license tobacco retailers and eliminate self-service
tobacco displays. [Major policy support provided by Full Court Press: American Cancer Society
(Arizona Division), American Lung Association (Arizona Division), Nonsmokers, Inc., Pima Prevention
Partnership, Tucson Police Department and University of Arizona.]
1999 – Tucson: Smoke-free restaurant ordinance (Campaign spearheaded by the Clearing the Air
Coalition).
2001 – Pima County: Smoke-free restaurant ordinance (Campaign spearheaded by the Clearing the
Air Coalition).
2006 – Worked with organizations and individuals across the state of Arizona to pass Smoke-
Free Arizona ballot initiative.
This brief history has been compiled by Arizona Tobacco Policy & Advocacy, a project of Healthy Policies.
Karen Zielaski, Project Director Healthy Policies Office: 520.290.0032 Email: healthypolicies@earthlink.net
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525 W Southern Ave. Suite #110 Mesa, AZ 85210 | ph: 480.733.5864 | fax: 480.733.1844 | smokefreeaz@yahoo.com
Copyright Arizonans Concerned About Smoking Inc. (ACAS). All rights reserved.
Please make your tax deductible donation to: Arizonans Concerned About Smoking, Inc.
Note: All contributions to the work of ACAS, Inc. are fully tax deductible as ACAS, Inc. is a 501C3 Corporation
Please copy, paste and print the following:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here is my tax deductible contribution to ACAS of: [ ]$25 [ ]$50 [ ]$100 [ ]$500 [ ]$1,000 [ ]Other $________________ Name _______________________________________________________________ Address_____________________________________________________________ City ______________________________ State ______ Zip ___________________ Make checks payable to: Arizonans Concerned About Smoking 525 W. Southern, Suite 110, Mesa, AZ, 85210 (480) 733-5864 E-mail: acasinc@msn.com www.acasinc.org --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Our Purpose Is To Save Lives
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Guadalupe in 2002
"On May 9, 2002, Guadalupe became the first locality in Arizona to pass a comprehensive smokefree
ordinance that included bars. The vote by the all-female Guadalupe Town Council was unanimous and
without opposition. Guadalupe is a small (5,228 in 2000) town, predominantly Yaqui native (80%) and
Hispanic. The town is also home to a population of Promotoras, community health workers providing
tobacco prevention, education, and cessation, so Guadalupe already was familiar with tobacco control.




ACAS and Dr. Lee Fairbanks were
instrumental in encouraging Guadalupe
's Town Council to consider the clean
indoor air issue. After Fairbanks drafted
the language for the Tempe smokefree
ordinance in early 2002, he framed the
issue of passing a 100% smokefree
ordinances as an historic opportunity in
which the city that passed the first
100% smokefree ordinance would be
the model for other cities. In an
interview in the South Tempe Voice in
March before Guadalupe and Tempe
went 100% smokefree, Fairbanks
speculated, “Guadalupe may beat
Tempe by being the first in Arizona to
adopt a proposition banning smoking
in all workplaces. If they do, it proves
Guadalupe is bigger than its
geographical boundaries.” Although
at the time Fairbanks and the ACAS
were pouring the majority of their time
and resources into passing the May
Smoke-Free Tempe initiative, the
adjoining town of Guadalupe quicky
passed its ordinance, earning the
honor of being the first locality in
Arizona to pass a 100% clean indoor air
ordinance. This success built additional support for Tempe’s clean indoor air ballot initiative which would
go to vote less than two weeks later, since Guadalupe proved to Tempeans the feasibility of achieving a
100% smokefree ordinance."
"...Guadalupe quicky passed its ordinance,
earning the honor of being the first locality in
Arizona to pass a 100% clean indoor air ordinance."

"In 1985, Tucson had been the first city in Arizona to make workplaces smokefree, although it
exempted restaurants and bars. Nonsmokers, Inc., the Tucson group headed by Arizona tobacco control
advocate Karen Zielaski (who continued to run an Arizona tobacco control listserv) that helped win
Tucson’s (progressive for 1985) ordinance, and a long-term tobacco control advocacy force in Tucson,
dissolved in December 1997.15 A new group, Tucson Clearing the Air, formed a year later, including
many former members of Nonsmokers Inc., to work in the new tobacco control environment in Arizona.
Clearing the Air came together primarily through physicians from Tucson including Keith Kaback and
Joel Meister, who served leadership roles. Tucson Clearing the Air guided a smokefree workplaces and
restaurants ordinance through the Tucson City Council in 1999 and the Pima County (which includes
Tucson) Board of Supervisors in 2001.
In 1999 Tucson Clearing the Air lead the movement to get the Tucson City Council to pass 4-3 a
smokefree ordinance that made all restaurants smokefree. The ordinance, passed in April, went into
effect October 1, 1999. By working with the City Council, the group avoided the expense of a ballot
campaign. Tucson Clearing the Air did not encounter opposition, though after the council passed the
ordinance the Arizona Restaurant and Hospitality Association (unsuccessfully) sought exemptions to
extend the hardship clause by a year, instead of the three months given to businesses. Tucson’s
ordinance gave restaurants until January 2000 to file for hardship exemptions if they could show with tax
receipts that they had sustained a two consecutive months of 15% or greater loss of business compared
to the previous year. Few exemptions were granted. The six-month delay sought to give Pima County
(where Tucson is located) the opportunity to pass a similar smokefree law bringing the clean indoor air
ordinance region-wide. Pima County, however, would not pass an ordinance until 2001."
More about Tucson
Our Recent Achievements:
This time period has seen a major positive change in regards to the public's position and perception of
what should be the healthy social norm in public place/workplace smoking in Arizona. It allowed ACAS to
actively participate in the fulfillment of the life long dream of Betty Carnes, the founder and major
financial benefactor for ACAS.
The dream came to fruition as a result of the Arizona voter approved passage of the: “Smoke-Free
Arizona” initiative, Proposition 201 *, on November 7, 2006. Her efforts continue (including her support
for ACAS) through the Arizona Community Foundation (ACF), instituted following her death in 1987.
* In November of 2006 the citizens of Arizona made their voices heard by passing Proposition 201, The
Smoke-Free Arizona Act. This landmark statute prohibits smoking in most indoor public places including (but
not limited to):
Restaurants, bars, gaming facilities such as bingo halls, billiard or pool halls, bowling centers, public
buildings, grocery stores or any food service establishment
Lobbies, elevators, restrooms, reception areas, hallways and any other common-use areas in public and
private buildings, condominiums and other multiple-unit residential facilities
Indoor sports arenas, gymnasiums and auditoriums
Health care facilities, hospitals, health care clinics, doctor’s offices and child day care facilities
Common areas in hotels and motels, and no less than 50% of hotel or motel sleeping quarters rented to
guests
Any place of employment not exempted. (See exemptions)
Click here for business exemptions
Tribes are Sovereign Nations, and are exempt from the Smoke-Free Arizona Act.

"Every year thousands receive devastating news. They or someone they love has lung cancer or
heart disease. While cancer first comes to mind with smoking and “secondhand” smoke, many more
heart attack deaths are associated with such exposure. “The Health Consequences of Involuntary
Smoking” (U.S. Surgeon General’s 1986 Report) focused on cancer. More recent research finds
such “exposure causes other major disease, particularly heart disease.” (Health Effects of Exposure
to Environmental Tobacco Smoke, National Institutes of Health & California Environmental Protection
Agency, 1999)
As little as “30 minutes of exposure to secondhand smoke will double your risk of heart attack for 48
hours.” (Science of Secondhand Smoke, Richard Sargent, MD) and “Of smoke from one cigarette
smoked in a room, 84% of the smoke (827 mg.) is sidestream smoke from the lit end of the cigarette,
while only 16% (119 mg) is mainstream smoke exhaled by the smoker. Over 4/5 of the smoke ends
up in the room for all to breathe! (Chemistry of Cigarette Smoke, Philip Morris Research Center,
Document #2024947175, Minnesota Tobacco Trial)
Arizonans deserve smoke-free environments. All workers deserve a smoke-free workplace. Just as
we must provide safe food and water for all, we must educate all about negative health effects of
“secondhand” smoke, containing over 50 toxic chemicals first identified by Philip Morris Research, as
well as federal agencies. It’s time for Arizonans to act by passing the Smoke-Free Arizona initiative.
Currently, 14 states, 5 countries and numerous Arizona
communities enjoy health benefits of such laws. Protect your health and those you love. Support the
American Cancer Society, American Lung Association, American Heart Association and Arizona
Hospital & Healthcare Association’s true health initiative, not just another tobacco industry ploy!"
Leland L. Fairbanks, M.D., President, Arizonans Concerned About Smoking, Mesa
Donald N. Morris, Ed.D., Executive Director, Arizonans Concerned About Smoking,
Scottsdale Paid for by “Arizonans Concerned About Smoking”
From "Publicity Pamphlet" Issued by Janice K. Brewer Arizona Secretary of State Ballot Proposition & Judicial Performance Review General Election NOVEMBER 7, 2006. Proposition 201, page 96
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"...Importantly, in 1994, Arizona voters passed Proposition 200 increasing the tobacco tax by 40
cents and allocating 23% of the money raised to create Arizona’s Tobacco Education and Prevention
Program (TEPP). Five per cent of the revenues raised were allocated to fund tobacco-related disease
research, with the rest going to Arizona’s Medicaid program, the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment
System (AHCCCS).
Despite being outspent three-to-one by the tobacco industry (primarily the Tobacco Institute),
Proposition 200 passed with 50.7% of the vote on November 8, 1994."
Defacing Proposition 200 campaign signs and posting anti-Proposition 200 signs failed to defeat the popular measure.
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