Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) released the following statement today on the one-year anniversary of the passage of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. Dodd, a senior member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, introduced the bill with the late Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and shepherded it through committee consideration and Senate passage.
“For years, the tobacco industry targeted our children with cartoon characters and exotic flavors to market their products,” said Dodd. “But that all stopped last year when we finally passed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. Now parents in Connecticut and across the nation can breathe easier knowing that the tobacco industry can no longer use these methods to hook our kids on their products.”
Today, on the one-year anniversary of the bill becoming law, several key provisions of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act will go into effect. These provisions 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 tobacco advertising;
· Ban free tobacco samples and giveaways of non-tobacco items with the purchase of tobacco products;
· Prohibit the sale of cigarettes in packs of less than 20;
· 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; and
· Provide for strong federal enforcement and penalties against retailers selling tobacco products to minors.
The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act empowers the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate tobacco products, allowing the agency to take actions that will help prevent youth smoking and reduce the toll of illness and death caused by tobacco use.
