Tobacco Documents Online

AIiG 1 4 ': WASHf NGTQN TiM ES AU 6 14 1995 I The use and abuse of children M 4aybe it's just a coincidence, but has anyone noticed how t:oacer¢ far child welfare haa a way of turning into a ptmry for bigger gav- erninent? When the Natural Resouzraa Defense Cuuncil ginned up a campaign to ban Alar, a chem- ical used to cotttrvl the growth of applee, !t clainsed childrea wetep~ y vulnerable to the alleged c.~u~c1nogen. Wh ~ recentiy, Attorney Gener- al JanetResso sent tattks in to gas the Branch Dayfd- Iaus at ]>rfountCasmel.she did it;1a part, fortltechil- divn inside. She had to gaa them, you s+e., to save tluan. Now comes the Clintan administration toptopose bwc.~eping netv restrictions on cigarette sales and ativcttisittg. Why?'lb protect the children, of cou:se, a Jub best left to government ot'AciaLs. "We're their yxur.tsts, and it is up to us to protect them." he said at a Thursday press briefing. "So today I am authoriz- inK theFbod and Druq Admicdstration tn initiate a btwJ serieS Ot steps ... to stop' satuand mariteting of clgarettes and smolteksl tobacco to childten." Mnong the measurex bans on cigarette vending nu'IChUtes that"«r=Yent atly ban on &ala to klds.• Wl Sal!'s to yoUng pe0 le without ldeiltilcatlon to vtvve their a¢e, on bior magazite. advertFs- u4tltat reach "substanWmimbers of clvadren and trctta: and a requitzment that the tobacco tndus fiutd a $150 million campaign aune at stop putQ W=3 from smoking. What gives the feda#~ t author- ity to itnpose sucb regulatfons? The adrh'u~tistrati oa istratioa .qys it wmes hom statutes empoavertng the Fbod and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate drugs. According to its lnterptetation, the nicotine in tobac- co is an addicttve drug and tfte cjgWjMe a dntQ-deUv- uy de+rlct Reporters quite natsirally wondeisd where all tJda was leadtng: If the FDA has the power to curb tubawco sales to children, asked one, "will the FDA n:talu power that would allow them at a lluvre date tn bun orcurb the sale of tobacco tn adultaP' Mr. Clia- tun said he c.ouldn't provide a"Lzwtul answer" to the question. Whcn similar questions arvse at a later preas conferraLce with FUA chief David Kes9ler, he carefully dutlied thern. On the Bttnkley show Sun- day, he sugges:;ed that the law is "flexible" enough to allow the agency to stop short of a complete ban. But that doesn't me:u3 it couldn't happea later. Once FDA clnimajuricdiciion to regulate cigarettes, the total ban ttat the administration at least pubL.cly says it does mit want becomes almost inevitable. It sotile otltSltlL. °publlc interest" group doesII't sue the agency to foras it to hold ctgarettra to the sanse "safe and effective" standard to which it holds other drugs - a standard cigarettes obviously caanot meet - then some lliture agency administrator may try to impose the standard on his own. Indeed, the admin- Istration plan iadicates that if after five years these regulations dc•n't cut uen smofcingto its satisfaction, the agency would consider still more restrictions. The irony, of cotuse, is that the proposals them- setves may not do much do to reduce Juveuiie smok- ing: As the siugeon general's report explained in 1989, "'Ib date, however, no longitudinal study of the direct relatiociship of cigarette advertising to smok- ing uutsaqon has been reported W the hteratnre." According toa 199Q aedcle in the International Jour- nal of Advertiasing:'"The literawe makes clear that ~eer laRuencea especially from peers of the saine sex, ts the pre-emittent factor in the onset of sm_._ oi'ang expertmcntatton and the maintenance of smoking. And even ff 0at weren't true, legal action over the controveraiul proposals Is likely to tie them up in court for yea a, nssuming federal lawmakers don't overturn thern t3rst But none of that matters in the therapeutic state being devtsed by the Clinton adminlstration. Whats important is Nood intentiona. "Nea¢weel;" says Newt Gingrich spo kesman'ibny Blankely, "the president will be in support of a glass of milk a day, and the neYt week he'll be for Gir1 Scout cookies." And if he does - come up with a government cookie pmgram, no doubt, he wiTl be doing lt for the chiIdrea