Obama Signs Anti-Smoking Bill Into Law

By: Brian Montopoli
Topics: Domestic Issues

(AP)

In a move hailed by anti-smoking advocates as a major victory in the fight to reduce tobacco-related fatalities, President Obama on Monday signed into law legislation giving the U.S. government broad powers to regulate tobacco products.

"Each day, 1,000 young people under the age of 18 become new regular, daily smokers, and almost 90 percent of all smokers began at or before their 18th birthday," Mr. Obama said before signing the legislation. "I know; I was one of these teenagers. And so I know how difficult it can be to break this habit when it's been with you for a long time."

The bill puts tobacco under the authority of the Food And Drug Administration, which will now regulate tobacco as a drug. A new entity within the FDA – the Center for Tobacco Products – will oversee the regulation, and it will have the power to mandate lower nicotine levels in tobacco products.

The legislation also bans candy-flavored cigarettes by October 2009, requires the full disclosure to the FDA of all ingredients and additives in cigarettes by January 2010, bans youth-focused marketing of cigarettes (including sponsorship of sporting events and clothing and cigarette giveaways), prohibits the use of misleading terms like "light" and "mild" on tobacco products by July 2010, and mandates new and stronger warning labels on tobacco products by July 2011.

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"Kids today don't just start smoking for no reason," the president said Monday. "They're aggressively targeted as customers by the tobacco industry. They're exposed to a constant and insidious barrage of advertising where they live, where they learn, and where they play. Most insidiously, they are offered products with flavorings that mask the taste of tobacco and make it even more tempting."

"Today, thanks to the work of Democrats and Republicans, health care and consumer advocates, the decades-long effort to protect our children from the harmful effects of tobacco has emerged victorious," he added. "Today, change has come to Washington."

The president noted that the legislation does not ban tobacco products, thus allowing "adults to make their own choices." But he said it would mean a reduction in "the number of American children who pick up a cigarette and become adult smokers."

Still, he said, "our work to protect our children and improve the public's health is not complete."

"Today, tobacco is the leading preventable cause of death not just in America, but also in the world," said Mr. Obama. "If current trends continue, 1 billion people will die from tobacco-related illnesses this century. And so the United States will continue to work with the World Health Organization and other nations to fight this epidemic on a global basis. But no matter how long or how hard this fight may be, what's happening today gives us hope."

He added that the bill passed "despite decades of lobbying and advertising by the tobacco industry."

"We're taking another big and very important step, a step that will save lives and dollars," said Mr. Obama.

A Gallup poll released in conjunction with the bill finding found that a majority of Americans oppose the new law. Fifty-two percent said they oppose the legislation while 46 percent support it, with disapproval particularly high among smokers. (For more on the debate over tobacco regulation, check out this "hot topic" post.)

Mr. Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, opposed such legislation. Critics suggest the embattled FDA is not equipped to effectively regulate tobacco.

Brian Montopoli
Brian Montopoli is the senior political reporter at CBSNews.com.
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by vaporkinginc September 16, 2010 5:31 AM EDT: Smoking electronic cigarettes has so many benefits when compared to tobacco. Electric cigarette is the all new alternative smoking solution that is taking the world by storm. Moreover electronic cigarettes allows to smoke a vapor that is free of carbon monoxide. This is one of the best way to quit smoking forever.; Reply to this comment


by talwinnx January 8, 2010 8:49 PM EST: i offer a simple solution if tobacco is so dangerous to the user and those who breathe second hand smoke ban it out right but we all know the will not do this because of money is more important then lives. the taxes they collect alone funds to much; Reply to this comment

by johninpennsyl June 23, 2009 6:46 AM EDT

Another crusading hypocrite.
No-I don't smoke.

Reply to this comment


by ladypirate2 June 23, 2009 6:05 PM EDT: I'm not sure if you are calling me or President Obama a hypocrite but call me what you want but every word I said is true! I am not a smoker myself. I've never smoked a cigarette in my life but even to this day I suffer from the effects of my parents' smoking. Also every word that I said about losing my parents and grandparents and my cousin and friend to heart disease, asthma, emphysema, lung cancer, and pancreatic cancer due to years of smoking is true! Not one word that I've said is a lie and I'm NOT a hypcrite because I DON'T SMOKE! I'VE NEVER SMOKED A CIGARETTE IN MY LIFE!


by ladypirate2 June 23, 2009 5:38 AM EDT: Smokers claim that they have a right to smoke but I also have the right to be healthy and to breathe clean air! I suffer from asthma which in my case was not caused from smoking, or at least not my smoking anyway. It's a condition that I was born with that was made worse by the fact that my parents smoked. I am an adult now but to this day I can't be in an enclosed space with someone who is smoking. I also know immediately when I walk in a public building where someone is smoking. My throat and my lungs just close up and I can't breathe! In my opinion smoking should be banned in all public buildings everywhere!; Reply to this comment


by ladypirate2 June 23, 2009 4:59 AM EDT: I think if people could see the results of smoking as I have they would support any bill that discourages smoking. I lost my beloved grandmother to heart disease caused by smoking. She was a chain smoker who smoked for years. Her husband, my grandfather, who also smoked for many years, died from heart disease and emphysema. My mother started smoking as a child. She died from pancreatic cancer that is linked to smoking. She also suffered from heart disease. My father was also a smoker for many years. He quit several years before he died but it was too late. The damage was already done. He died from lung cancer. He also suffered from heart disease and asthma and emphysema. I also lost a cousin and a dear friend to lung cancer caused from smoking. I think if people could see what I've seen, someone that they love dying from years of smoking, they would think twice before lighting that first cigarette! They would also support any legislation that discourages or outlaws smoking!; Reply to this comment


by daisyjingles June 23, 2009 12:12 AM EDT: I saw Iowa Senator Tom Harkin was smiling broadly behind the President as this law was singed. He has long helped the underdog. Thanks President Obama and thanks also to Senator Harkin!; Reply to this comment


by keyneswaswrong June 22, 2009 11:03 PM EDT: Choosing to smoke cigarettes is stupid...so is eating too much sugar, believing in the power of crystals, maxing out your credit cards, or tatooing your body from head to toe. Yet all these stupidities have something in common: such decisions are none of the business of government.; Reply to this comment


by erasmus111 June 22, 2009 10:07 PM EDT: by goodusa June 22, 2009 5:18 PM PDT
OBAMA IS INSANE! Just saw on the news, he is giving AMNESTY TO MILLIONS OF ILLEGALs! Unemployment is at it's highest and this idiot is doing this. This guy is a nut case from the word go, he is damaging this economy left and right.

Actually it isn't him that has damaged the economy. It's Bush and whoever else who allowed the illegal immigrants to enter the country in the first place. They already have your jobs and health care. Because there are so many, to try and hunt them down and deport them now, is going to take billions of dollars. You would be better off to maybe focus on stopping the flow. Stop anymore illegals from coming in.; Reply to this comment


by gravyboat3000 June 22, 2009 9:31 PM EDT: by charlie257 June 22, 2009 3:59 PM PDT
His hippopotomus makes him obligated.. professionally.. to lack personal opinion.

______

ROTFLMMFAO!!!

Eddie's in rare form.; Reply to this comment


by saturn05 June 22, 2009 8:00 PM EDT: I wish instead of wasting taxpayer money on this, we would expect and demand personal responsibility in this matter. I grew up with cigarette ads on TV and in print; my father smoking and even chewed candy gum cigarettes and the hard candy kind. Guess what, I never have smoked. I am real tired of paying for everyone else's personal decisions. If they smoke, they pay higher insurance premiums or whatever, but I do not want my money to go to education about the sins of smoking. In this day and age if people, including kids don't know cigarettes can kill yourself and others, no amount of money is going to make a difference.; Reply to this comment