In the United States, cigarette smoking and smokeless tobacco together are the single leading preventable cause of death. ¹ Each year, tobacco kills over 400,000 Americans, more people than are killed by AIDS, alcohol, car accidents, homicides, illegal drugs, suicides and fires, combined. ² 

Almost one million young people yearly, or nearly 3,000 young people daily, become regular smokers. ³ As a result, approximately one out of every three young people will die prematurely from diseases related to tobacco. ⁴ 

Cigarette advertising has concerned the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) since the 1930s, when it sought to prevent companies from claiming health benefits from smoking (The FTC has general authority to regulate deceptive or unfair business practices. The responsibility is shared with the Department of the Treasury in regard to alcohol advertising and the Food and Drug Administration in the area of drug advertising.). But, there was little evidence to counter these health benefits claims by tobacco manufacturers until 1938. Even during the subsequent 15-year period, the agency issued only seven cease-and-desist orders to eliminate various false claims. 

Following the 1964 Report on Smoking and Health by the Advisory Committee to the U.S. Surgeon General, and after a long campaign by health education and consumer activists, the FTC concluded that cigarette advertising that failed to disclose the health risks of smoking was "unfair and deceptive." It proposed requiring clear and prominent disclosure of cancer and other hazards on cigarette packs and ads. 

An alarmed tobacco industry put its first advertising disclosures in place, but appealed to Congress for protection. In 1965, Congress preempted the FTC by enacting legislation that called for a milder and less prominent warning. Consumer activists then employed the "fairness doctrine" of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to force broadcasters to carry antismoking "countercommercials." As cigarette sales began to slide, the tobacco industry, in the words of the chair of the Tobacco Institute, "offered to discontinue all advertising on radio and television." Congress "accepted that offer" in 1970, and tobacco advertisements were banned from the airwaves starting on January 2, 1971. 

In August 1995, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed a set of regulations designed to limit the appeal of and reduce access to tobacco products. The proposed rules came after a yearlong intensive FDA investigation of the role that nicotine plays in young people's lives. The FDA found that cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products are addictive drugs, which led them to conclude--for the first time--that it has jurisdiction over tobacco products. 

The proposed 1995 rules prompted more public commentary--about 700,000 pieces of mail--than at any other time in the history of federal rule making. After reviewing the public comments, the FDA made several changes in the rule to focus their efforts exclusively to minors. 

In August 1996, President Bill Clinton announced his support of the FDA rule, the nation's first comprehensive set of regulations designed to limit the sales and advertising of tobacco products specifically to minors. The goal is to reduce the consumption of tobacco products by 50 percent in the next seven years. The move marks the first time--and a strategic shift in policy--that tobacco regulation is being considered by the FDA as opposed to the FTC. 

According to The Advocacy Institute, a non-profit agency located in Washington D.C., the FDA's regulations are the most far-reaching attempt in United States history to limit the access to, and appeal of, cigarettes and smokeless tobacco to children and adolescents. 

The program to regulate tobacco products includes the following rules: 

Reduce Easy Access by Children: 

• Requires age verification for all over-the-counter sales. 
• Limits vending machine sales and self-service displays only to places where minors are not allowed, such as certain bars and nightclubs. 
• Prohibits the sale of single cigarettes and packages of less than 20. 
• Prohibits free sampling of cigarettes. 

• Bans outdoor advertising within 1,000 feet of schools and playgrounds. Permits black-and-white text only advertising for all other outdoor advertising, including billboards, signs inside and outside of buses, and all point-of-sale advertising. Color and imagery advertising is allowed inside places minors are not allowed to enter. 
• Permits black-and-white text-only advertising in publications with significant youth readership (under 18). (Significant readership is defined as more than 15 percent or more than 2 million. No restrictions on print advertising below these thresholds.) 
• Prohibits the sale or giveaway of tobacco products like caps, jackets or gym bags that carry cigarette or smokeless tobacco product brand names or logos. 
• Prohibits the brand name sponsorship of sporting or entertainment events, but permits it in the corporate name. Sponsorship of individual teams or entries within a sporting event is also prohibited. 

Tobacco Advertising in the United States . 1997. Issue Briefs. Studio City, Calif.: Mediascope Press. 

1. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (1996). Executive Summary: The Rugulations Restricting the Sale and Distribution of Cigarettes and Smokeless Tobacco To Protect Children and Adolescents, Rockville, MD: U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 
2. Ibid. 
3. Department of Health and Human Services. (1996). Press Release: President Clinton Announces Historic Steps To Reduce Children's Use of Tobacco, Washington, DC: Department of Health and Human Services. 
4. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (1996). op. cit.