New Underage Smoking Law Takes Effect Today
One year ago Democrats put in place strict new rules to protect young Americans from the dangers of tobacco – the leading cause of preventable death – and give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the power to regulate the tobacco industry. Today, many of those rules take effect.
Starting today, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act will:
- Ban all tobacco-brand sponsorships of sports and entertainment events
- Prohibit the use of misleading cigarette labels, such as “light” and “mild,” designed to make tobacco products seem healthier and safer
- Require larger health warnings in smokeless tobacco advertising and products
- Ban free tobacco samples and giveaways of non-tobacco items with the purchase of tobacco products
- Require stores to place tobacco products behind the counter
- Restrict vending machines and self-service displays of tobacco products to adult-only facilities
- Establish a nationwide prohibition of tobacco sales to children under 18 by requiring photo identification checks for sales to anyone appearing under 27
- Provide for strong federal enforcement and penalties against retailers selling tobacco products to minors.
New Tobacco Regulation Powers for FDA
House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman issued a statement, noting that the FDA has already taken steps to reduce underage smoking:
“Using this new authority, FDA banned candy- and fruit-flavored cigarettes, used by the tobacco industry to hook children on tobacco… FDA has done a great deal in the past year to address the grave harm that tobacco inflicts on our nation. This is just the beginning of what we expect to see in the years ahead…Ten years from now, if the agency does what we have empowered it to do, the landscape of tobacco control - and of our nation's health - will be vastly improved.”
Learn more at http://www.tobaccofreekids.org.
