Developments in Policy: The FDA's Tobacco Regulations

Abstract

On August 9, 1995, the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), David Kessler, announced the agency's intention to regulate tobacco products as delivery devices for the drug nicotine. His plan was outlined in a set of proposed rules entitled, "Regulations Restricting the Sale and Distribution of Cigarettes and Smokeless Tobacco Products to Protect Children and Adolescents." As the title indicates, the rules focused heavily on restricting the availability and advertising of cigarettes to minors and included the following provisions: the creation of a federal law criminalizing the sale of cigarettes to minors; a requirement that tobacco companies spend $150 million on an educational campaign to discourage young people from smoking; and bans on all of the following: pictures or color print in cigarette advertisements in magazines with a youth readership of 15% or more; all billboard advertising of cigarettes within 1000 feet of schools and playgrounds, and pictures and color print on billboards elsewhere; the display of tobacco product brand logos in sports or music events sponsored by tobacco companies; cigarette vending machines; mail-ordering of tobacco products; cigarette brand-names on promotional items such as hats or T-shirts; and "kiddie packs" containing fewer than 20 cigarettes.