WASHINGTON, D.C. – June 18, 2010 – Tuesday, June 22, marks a historic day in tobacco control as public health advocates celebrate the first anniversary of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act and welcome tough new restrictions on the marketing and sale of tobacco products to children and adults.
“This landmark public health law will begin to break the deadly cycle of addiction and put an end to Big Tobacco’s targeting of our nation’s children,” said John R. Seffrin, PhD, chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), the Society’s advocacy affiliate. “The potential impact of this law, and the provisions that are implemented on the anniversary, cannot be overstated.”
The law gives the U.S. Food and Drug Administration the authority to regulate the manufacture, sale and marketing of tobacco products. Major provisions of the law that are already in place include a ban on candy- and fruit-flavored cigarettes, which for decades were primarily marketed to attract and addict youth smokers. Along with the anniversary comes the implementation of several important provisions dealing with the marketing and manufacturing of tobacco products, including:
“This law is a culmination of more than a decade of work to regulate a rogue industry whose business is addiction,” said Christopher W. Hansen, president of ACS CAN. “Every day, 3,900 children pick up their first cigarette and 1,000 children become addicted smokers. This law will help to reduce youth smoking and save lives.”
Prior to the enactment of this law, tobacco products were virtually the only legally consumed product not regulated in the U.S. The tobacco industry spends nearly $34 million every day to aggressively market its products to addict new, young smokers, keep current users from quitting and mislead the public about the harms of their products.
ACS CAN joined more than 1,000 organizations, including public health, medical, children’s, and faith-based groups to attract broad, bipartisan support for the bill in Congress. For decades, the Society and ACS CAN have led the fight for strong tobacco control policies at the federal, state and local levels, including smoke-free policies that protect workers and patrons from the hazards of second-hand smoke, tobacco tax increases that discourage people from starting or continuing their tobacco habit and funding for proven tobacco cessation programs that help children and adults quit.
For more information about the law, visit http://fightcancer.org/protectkids.
ACS CAN is the nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate organization of the American Cancer Society, dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem. ACS CAN works to encourage lawmakers, candidates and government officials to support laws and policies that will make cancer a top national priority. ACS CAN gives ordinary people extraordinary power to fight cancer. For more information, visit www.fightcancer.org.
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