smoking: Regulation of Tobacco and Smoking

Because of mounting evidence of health risks, television advertisements for cigarettes were banned beginning in 1971. In the 1980s, Congress began to require stronger warning labels on all print advertising; soon afterward it banned smoking on domestic air flights. Concerns about the effects of tobacco smoke on nonsmokers led government and businesses to place additional restrictions on smoking in public, common, and work areas; more than two thirds of U.S. states now place some restrictions on smoking in public places.

A 1988 report of the Surgeon General of the United States recognized nicotine as an addictive substance, leading the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to consider treating nicotine as any other addictive drug and implementing stricter regulations. The authority of the FDA to regulate smoking was, however, denied by the Supreme Court. In 2009, however, the U.S. Congress passed legislation that allows the Food and Drug Administration to regulate cigarettes and other forms of tobacco; the law also imposed additional restrictions on the marketing of tobacco products. The habit of smoking continues to increase in the young despite the illegality of cigarette sales to those under 18 years of age in all 50 states.

The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, a treaty adopted by World Health Organization members in 2003, seeks to reduce the number of tobacco-related illnesses and deaths by establishing international standards for antismoking measures; it entered into force in 2005. The convention restricts the marketing and sale of tobacco products and requires health warnings on packages of cigarettes. The treaty has been signed, but not ratified, by the United States. Indoor air quality laws, high taxes on tobacco, and measures against cigarette smuggling are encouraged under the pact.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Legal Battles
• Regulation of Tobacco and Smoking
• Health Effects
• Bibliography

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