Unregistered User If this is not your name, click here.
		Contact Us | Order Now | Journals | Bookstore | Register a colleague
	Select a ChannelAcneAIDS and HIVAllergy OtherAlzheimer'sAnaesthesiology OtherAngina Pectoris/MIAnxietyArthritis OtherAsthmaBack PainBacterial InfectionsBladder CancerBone Marrow TransplantationBreast CancerCardiology OtherCataractCell TransplantationCervical CancerCholesterol/Lipid disordersCirrhosisClinical PharmacologyColorectal CancerCongestive Heart FailureContact DermatitisContraceptionCOPDCystic FibrosisDental and Oral DisordersDepressionDermatology OtherDiabetesDialysisEating DisordersElbowEmergency MedicineEndocrinology OtherEpilepsyErectile DysfunctionFibromyalgiaGastro OtherGeneticsGenitourinary OtherGeriatricsGERD/GastritisGlaucomaH. Pylori/UlcerHaematology OtherHair LossHeadachesHepa/Biliary OtherHepatitisHipHRTHypertensionIBDImmunologyInfectious OtherInfertilityIntensive CareIrritable Bowel SyndromeKneeLeukemiasLiver CancerLung CancerLupusLymphomasMelanomaMenopauseMultiple Sclerosis Nephrology OtherNeurologic OtherNutritional / Metabolic OtherOb/Gyn OtherObesityOncology OtherOphth. OtherOphthalmic SurgeryOrgan TransplantationOrthopaedics OtherOsteoarthritisOsteoporosisOtitisOtorhino. OtherOvarian CancerPaediatricsPainPancreatic CancerParkinson'sPregnancyProstate CancerPsychiatry OtherPulmonary OtherRadiologyRenal CancerRenal FailureRespiratory InfectionsRheumatoid arthritisRheumatology OtherRhinitisSchizophreniaShoulderSleep ApnoeaSleep DisordersSpineStrokeSTDsSurgeryThyroid DisordersTransfusionTransplant Surgery OtherTraumaUrinary IncontinenceUrinary tract infectionsVaccinologyVascular DisordersViral Infections

SEARCH   News Bookstore Medline The Web Meetings & Congresses Complete Doctor's Guide    EXPLORE :    All News   All Webcasts   All Cases   All Meetings & Congresses   All Medical Resources New drugs / indications English Dictionary Medical Dictionary Thesaurus Warning | Privacy | Awards  Favourite Journals  Click here to choose your favourite journals  Favourite Sites  Click here to choose your favourite sites  Languages  Select languageEnglishFrançais

FDA Rule Will Help Stop Pediatric Tobacco Addiction -- AHA BURLINGAME, Calif., Feb. 26, 1997 -- February 28th marks the first step in implementing the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)'s final rule governing children's access to tobacco products. The new rule will require retailers to check an official photographic ID of anyone wanting to purchase cigarettes who appears to be 27 years old or younger. The FDA rule seeks to limit youth access to tobacco, and future steps will reduce the appeal of cigarettes to youth by placing common-sense restrictions on the tobacco industry's advertising and marketing ploys. This rule was a result of years of effort by the FDA and hundreds of public health groups like the American Heart Association (AHA) to reduce the incidence of smoking in children. "Every year tobacco-related diseases like heart attacks claim more than 400,000 lives in this country alone," said Gordon L. Fung, MD, MPH, president of the AHA, California Affiliate. "Every one of those lives represents the loss of a family member, friend, co-worker or neighbor. As a practicing physician, I am painfully aware of the toll tobacco takes on too many Californian lives. As a parent, I am confident that the FDA rule will help to protect the next generation of Californians to be smoke-free." The tobacco industry is contesting FDA jurisdiction over regulating tobacco products in federal court, and claims that it does not target children to begin to smoke. In a press release, the AHA counters with figures which show that the tobacco industry spends $4-6 billion dollars each year to market and promote their tobacco products. In addition, the AHA’s statistics show 3,000 U.S. children beginning to smoke every day; one third of them will eventually die from heart and brain attack, the #1 cause of death in the U.S. “Teen smoking is on the rise and young people are smoking at younger and younger ages,” the press release states. “The average smoker today begins at the age of 13 and is already a daily smoker within a year and a half.” Other FDA regulations will take effect over the next year and a half, culminating on August 28, 1998, two years after the final rule was published. Some of these other regulations include a ban on outdoor advertising within 1,000 feet of schools; a ban on cigarette vending machines, except in facilities inaccessible to those under the age of 18, like nightclubs; prohibiting sale, or give away of promotional products that carry tobacco product brand names; and permitting black and white text only advertising in publications with significant youth readership (under age 18). "The FDA regulations are a courageous and long-awaited response to the epidemic of underage smoking," said Fung. "This new rule is the first national public policy in history to stop tobacco companies from marketing their deadly products to children and young people." E-mail this page to a friend or colleague! To print, use this version