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(Circulation. 1995;92:2021.)
© 1995 American Heart Association, Inc.

Articles

The Power to Regulate Tobacco

Jennifer Johnson; Scott Ballin

From the American Heart Association, Office of Public Affairs, Washington, DC.

	Introduction

 
In August, President Clinton announced broad measures designed to drastically decrease teenage smoking. The President directed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate cigarettes and declare nicotine an addictive drug. The proposed FDA regulations govern the sale, marketing, and distribution of nicotine-containing cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products to children and adolescents in order to address the serious public health problems caused by tobacco. President Clinton's intention is to meet the goals established in the government's "Healthy People 2000" report by cutting teenage tobacco use in half. If this objective is not met within 7 years of the date of publication of the final rule, the FDA will take additional measures to help achieve the reduction in the use of tobacco products by young people. The President does not intend to limit the adult use of tobacco products.

As FDA Commissioner Dr David Kessler described it, smoking is a pediatric disease. Every day, 3000 children take a puff of their first cigarette. As a result, 1000 will die prematurely from heart disease, cancer, emphysema, or other diseases. The average teenage smoker starts at about 14 years of age and then becomes a daily smoker before age 18. Studies have consistently shown that if a teen does not begin to smoke then, it is unlikely that he or she will ever begin to do so later in life.

More than 400 000 people die each year from smoking-related diseases. This amounts to more than the combined death tolls from AIDS, alcohol . . . [Full Text of this Article]