Obama signs tobacco bill into law amid personal struggle with smoking
Christi Parsons, Tribune Washington Bureau
Issue date: 7/1/09 Section: News
"Today," said Obama, "change has come to Washington."
For Obama personally, change is more elusive. He gave up cigarettes as part of a deal with his wife, Michelle Obama, who wanted him to quit before he took on the rigors of a presidential campaign. He swore off cigarettes and started chewing Nicorette gum.
In recent weeks, though, aides to the president have tacitly acknowledged the president's nicotine habit isn't a thing of the past.
On Monday, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said he hasn't "probed" the president on the question.
"As he has told me," Gibbs said, "it's something that he continues to struggle with . . . like millions of Americans have." The new law creates a Center for Tobacco Products to oversee the science-based regulation in the United States. By October 2009, it will completely prohibit cigarettes that have candy, fruit, and spice flavors as their main flavors.
The bill also requires that tobacco companies:
-Fully disclose ingredients and additives. They will also have to send information to the FDA about the nicotine content of their products and the health consequences of using them.
-Stop targeting youth with their marketing campaigns. They won't be able to sell or give away clothing and other items with their logos, or distribute free samples of cigarettes.
-Quit using terms such as "light," "low" and "mild" to market their products, labels that may suggest the individual product carries lower health risks.
-Include warning labels that dominate the front and rear panels of their packaging. The FDA will develop regulations requiring particular graphics on labels to warn of the health risks of smoking.
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(c) 2009, Tribune Washington Bureau.
For Obama personally, change is more elusive. He gave up cigarettes as part of a deal with his wife, Michelle Obama, who wanted him to quit before he took on the rigors of a presidential campaign. He swore off cigarettes and started chewing Nicorette gum.
In recent weeks, though, aides to the president have tacitly acknowledged the president's nicotine habit isn't a thing of the past.
On Monday, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said he hasn't "probed" the president on the question.
"As he has told me," Gibbs said, "it's something that he continues to struggle with . . . like millions of Americans have." The new law creates a Center for Tobacco Products to oversee the science-based regulation in the United States. By October 2009, it will completely prohibit cigarettes that have candy, fruit, and spice flavors as their main flavors.
The bill also requires that tobacco companies:
-Fully disclose ingredients and additives. They will also have to send information to the FDA about the nicotine content of their products and the health consequences of using them.
-Stop targeting youth with their marketing campaigns. They won't be able to sell or give away clothing and other items with their logos, or distribute free samples of cigarettes.
-Quit using terms such as "light," "low" and "mild" to market their products, labels that may suggest the individual product carries lower health risks.
-Include warning labels that dominate the front and rear panels of their packaging. The FDA will develop regulations requiring particular graphics on labels to warn of the health risks of smoking.
___
(c) 2009, Tribune Washington Bureau.
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