October 7, 1993 Department Of Justice The Honorable Janet Reno U.S. Attorney General 10th & Constitution Avenue NW, ROOM 5111 Washington, D.C. 20530 Dear Ms. Attorney General, Please find enclosed a copy of a letter I recently sent to the Mayor of St. Louis. I have a respiratory disability in the fact that I have Asthma and that I have severe reactions to small amounts of cigarette smoke. I have been having a great deal of difficulty trying to get accommodation for my disability. Why is it that the Americans With Disability Act of 1990 technical manual has absolutely no Federal Agencies and/or Federally Funded ADA Technical Assistance programs that deal specifically with respiratory disabilities? And why is it that Accessibility Guidelines and Uniform Accessibility Standards do not address air quality and/or accessibility guidelines for respiratory disabilities? Isn't that discrimination? If it has to do with your mouth, your ears, your eyes, your brain or your limbs you have and can find specific Federal assistance for that disability. Also receiving specific Federal assistance are those with Aids and Alcohol and Substance Abuse. I am not downgrading those dis- abilities, but it is discrimination against those of us who have a Chronic Lung Disease not to be included. We have essentially been left to fight for our own rights to gain access. Those individuals who are considered to have a respiratory disability include those with asthma, emphysema, hay fever, sinusitis, allergies, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and many other conditions which are triggered or exacerbated by exposure to tobacco smoke to the extent that at least one major activity (e.g., breathing and working) are adversely affected. When I called the Office For The Disabled for the City of St. Louis I asked what that office was supposed to do for disabled people. I was told that they were there to advocate for the disabled. Then I ex- plained that I did not have access to most of St. Louis because of my respiratory disability and that I wanted them to help me. I was told that they were already in compliance with the ADA and that there was nothing that they could do for me. XX (b)(6) If you would like to get a real education as to what it is like for those of us with a respiratory disability try calling the St. Louis Housing and Urban Development Office and ask about housing people. 01-02833 with a respiratory disability who are sensitive to Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS). If you have any other disability they can accommodate you. Those of us who have this disability need someone who has this same disability to advocate and help draft access guidelines that will be added to those already in place. When there is tobacco smoke in the lobby of a building or being recirculated from a smoking area that building is not accessible to me. For someone like myself, any amount of tobacco smoke in a lobby is like asking someone in a wheel chair to climb a flight of stairs to get to the elevator. On August 18, 1993 I attended a media training session sponsored by the American Stop Smoking Intervention Study (ASSIST) a joint project of the Missouri Department of Health and the American Cancer Society. That meeting was held at the St. Louis Chapter of the American Heart Association building. Before attending that meeting I called and asked if it was a smoke free building. I was told that no one was allowed to smoke in the building or on the premises. I was there for three and a half hours. Soon after I left I could taste cigarette smoke coming out of my lungs. Within about, an hour my lungs began to hurt and became very tired. I was ill for the next three days- This is the kind of situation that I continue to encounter. People do not understand that smoke free should mean just that, no smoke being re- circulated throughout the building. There are no Uniform Accessibility Standards that pertain to Chronic lung Disease and smoke-sensitive individuals. If there is anything at all that you cart do it would be greatly appreciated by all of us with this disability. I have written letter after letter after letter trying to get access for my disability. if guidelines has been written for this disability then it wouldn't be such a tremendous fight to gain access. Please help us. Truly Yours, XX XX XX St. Louis, MO XX XX cc: John F. Banshaf III, Esq. 01-02834