ABSTRACT
The health voluntary organizations—principally national, state, and local units of the American Cancer Society (ACS), American Lung Association (ALA), and American Heart Association (AHA)—are centrally involved in the tobacco control movement. The involvement of the voluntaries, as a group, has important implications for the movement. In Minnesota, the voluntaries have played an important role in the movement. The Minnesota ACS organization began in 1937 as the Women's Field Army, which affiliated with the American Society for the Control of Cancer—later to become the American Cancer Society. People involved in ACS tobacco control efforts at the local level—particularly staff—often look to the national organization for guidance on policy issues. Like AHA and ACS, ALA was slow to take on a significant role with respect to political advocacy. The Minnesota Lung Association has been a long-time member of the Smoke-Free Coalition. The Minnesota affiliate of AHA has played a relatively minor role in the movement.
