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The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) recognizes that exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is an important preventable cause of death and disease, and that reducing such exposure will not only improve the public health but may also facilitate quit attempts by those addicted to tobacco, benefiting their health as well. Therefore, all meetings and conferences organized and/or sponsored by NIDA shall be held in a town, city, county, or state that is smoke free, unless specific circumstances justify an exception from this policy.
Exceptions to the Policy
The new smoke-free meeting policy addresses meetings and conferences primarily organized or sponsored by NIDA that involve 20 or more attendees. The following can be exempted from the policy:
- Conference grants (e.g. R13) and other grantee sponsored meetings,
- Site visits at institutions supported by and/or applying for NIDA funding,
- Meetings in which NIDA is but one of many organizers,
- Meetings/conferences held in coordination with other meetings/conferences that are not sponsored by NIDA,
- Meetings scheduled prior to January 1, 2007,
- Meetings that need to be convened in close proximity to a special population group (e.g., a Tribal community), and
- Meetings held at the NIDA IRP Campus
- Additional exemption requests will be considered on a case by case basis.
NIDA representatives will also encourage all grantees, applicants, and other meeting organizers to consider holding their meetings in smoke-free jurisdictions. A full list of permitted exemptions to the policy is currently under development and will address the requirements of the Competition in Contracting Act (41 U.S.C. sec. 253). The policy is scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2007.
List of Smoke-free Locailities (PDF format - 400 Kb)
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