Mark Pertschuk
Mark is the former President and Executive Director of Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights, during which time he managed a grassroots campaign to ban smoking on commercial airline flights in the United States. (1986 – 2007) In 1995, Mark co-founded Californians for Responsible Gun Laws and helped mobilize support for four major statewide firearm laws and 40 local gun control ordinances. He has also served as Executive Director of the Marin Institute and Legislative Director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. Mark can be reached at: pertschuk@gmail.com or 510-548-4053.
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By Mark Pertschuk
September 14, 2011 |
The Institute of Medicine has addressed federal and state preemption in a new report on law and policy in public health. Among the most authoritative, and unbiased, voices in public health, the IOM has concluded that federal and state preemption should be avoided “unless there are compelling reasons to the contrary.” As described by the IOM, “compelling reasons” to preempt state and local control are rare. The Institute’s conclusions about preemption are included in the report: For the Public’s Health: Revitalizing Law and Public Policy to Meet New Challenges. The IOM report adds to a growing body of research and analysis that…
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IOM Takes the Lead on Preemption
June 13, 2011 |
Taking a well-worn page from the playbook of the Tobacco Industry, the fast food industry is quietly, and so far successfully, eliminating local control over nutrition policy. In March, the Arizona legislature passed a preemption bill written by the Arizona Restaurant Association. The new law, which goes into effect in July, takes away the authority of local communities to regulate “toys, games, coupons, crayons, coloring placements or prizes that appeal to children if they are offered at restaurants,” according to a Reuters article. In an opinion piece in the Arizona Daily Star titled “Pre-emptive bill on fast food and kids reeks of hollow politics,” Dale Kunkel…
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Preempting a movement for childhood obesity prevention
March 14, 2011 |
About 3000 Americans die in home fires every year and thousands more are injured. Home fires are the greatest cause of fire deaths and injuries, and children under five and older adults face the highest risk. One of the great public health success stories of the past decade is the grassroots movement for local ordinances requiring fire sprinklers in new homes. Residential fire sprinklers, similar to the systems required in hotels and apartment buildings, cut the risk of death from home fires by 80% and the cost of property damage by 71%. According to one study, the cost of sprinklering new homes averages $1.61 per…
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Preemption threatens grassroots fire prevention movement
January 3, 2011 |
In a Dec. 22, 2010 article in The Economist, Arianna Huffington predicts that 2011 will be the “Year of hope 2.0,” in which Americans realize that “our system is too broken to be fixed by politicians operating from within it.” The solution: We outside of Washington must demand meaningful change and make it too risky for the insiders to cling to the status quo. What is true of politics in general is equally true for public health. Wishful thinking about top-down leadership is no substitute for realism, and the reality is that for many public health issues, fundamental change can only come from powerful…
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Public Health 2.0
November 19, 2010 |
Whatever you think of the outcome, the 2010 elections remind us of the power of the grassroots in American politics. This should not come as a surprise to the public health community: In her 2007 book Disease Prevention as Social Change, Constance Nathanson wrote, “The strength of [the American system] lies in its citizens’ capacity for collective action.” As we define it, a grassroots health movement is a collective effort to prevent disease or other threats to health and safety, comprised of activated citizens and organizations that support them. Understanding and supporting grassroots movements may be the single most important thing that the public health community can do…
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Grassroots health
November 5, 2010 |
According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), about 3000 Americans die in home fires every year and thousands more are injured. Home fires are by far the greatest cause of fire deaths and injuries. Children under five and older adults face the highest risk. And anyone who has survived a serious fire injury, or knows someone who has, understands the human costs behind the numbers. For the individuals and families behind the numbers, the costs of fire injury are incalculable. As one survivor reports on the NFPA website: “For me, the burns I suffered in a home fire led to…
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Grassroots fire prevention
July 19, 2010 |
The critical issue of preemption is missing from FDA’s recent request for comments on new menu labeling regulations. Strange, given how important preemption is to the restaurant chains. (Pre-emption Of State And Local Menu Labeling Laws Good News For Franchise Restaurants) Federal (and state) preemption of smokefree laws has been one of the tobacco industry’s top goals for decades. But so far, the tobacco industry has failed to pass federal preemption. Not so with menu labeling. The menu labeling provisions (and preemption) are part of the health care reform legislation enacted in March. In spite of the fact that more than…
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FDA: Preemption and Menu Labeling