The Anti-Cigarette League of America was an anti-smoking

advocacy group Advocacy groups, also known as interest groups, special interest groups, lobbying groups or pressure groups use various forms of advocacy in order to influence public opinion and ultimately policy. They play an important role in the developm ...

which had substantial success in the anti-smoking movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the United States in passing anti-smoking legislation. The campaign sought to pass

smoking bans Smoking bans, or smoke-free laws, are public policies, including criminal laws and occupational safety and health regulations, that prohibit tobacco smoking in certain spaces. The spaces most commonly affected by smoking bans are indoor work ...

in public places as well as ban cigarettes themselves.

History

The group was founded in 1899 by

Lucy Page Gaston Lucy Page Gaston (May 19, 1860 – August 20, 1924) was an anti-tobacco activist of the late 19th and early 20th century. She was the founder of the Anti-Cigarette League of America, which had as its goal the abolition of cigarettes. Early life ...

, a teacher, writer, lecturer and member of the

Woman's Christian Temperance Union The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international temperance organization, originating among women in the United States Prohibition movement. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program th ...

. Gaston maintained that cigarette smoking was a "dangerous new habit, particularly threatening to the young and thus likely to lead to the use of alcohol and narcotics, so prevalent in the 1890s." Gaston's mission attracted the attention and the patronage of like-minded progressives and members of the WCTU. By 1901 the organization claimed a membership of 300,000, with a paid staff overseeing chapters throughout the United States and Canada. Physician Daniel H. Kress was vice-president of the Anti-Cigarette League. Between 1890 and 1930, 15 states enacted laws banning the sale, manufacture, possession, or use of cigarettes, and 22 other states considered such legislation. Even the legislature of the tobacco-producing state of North Carolina considered cigarette prohibition laws in 1897, 1901, 1903, 1905, 1911, 1913, and again in 1917. Eventually, all the states repealed their cigarette prohibition laws and associated smoking bans in most public places. Kansas was the last to do so, in 1927.

References

{{reflist Defunct political advocacy groups in the United States Defunct organizations based in the United States