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• Anti-smoking crusader becomes enabler 

Here's a look at the past. Items have been culled from The Chronicle's archives of 25, 50, 75 and 100 years ago.

1985

Aug. 11: Supervisor Wendy Nelder, the anti-smoking crusader who made San Francisco put out its smokes two years ago, spent $1,600 on cigarettes yesterday. Then she gave them to nicotine-addicted patients in Laguna Honda Hospital. "Oh God, it was terrible," Nelder said yesterday, describing how she felt when she paid for 200 cartons. "I've never spent a penny on cigarettes before." Nelder said she decided to become a tobacco runner for Laguna Honda patients to protest a "cheesy grandstanding" policy adopted by the city's newly formed Health Commission. The policy prohibits the sale of tobacco in Health Department facilities, a ban that affects shops located in hospitals. Nelder, who sponsored the city's 2-year-old smoking ordinance, called the policy "cruel." "If you are really addicted and you are in a critical situation like people at Laguna Hospital are, it's adding insult to injury to limit your access to cigarettes." she said. Ben Abramovice, the administrator at Laguna Honda, said the hospital has about 200 patients who smoke. "We're tickled with any charitable donation we get," Abramovice said. "The cigarettes will all be passed out today."

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