Tobacco Documents Online

kP v5116 ra 3exec Tobacco-Poll,0522 08-22 3:03p AP Poll: Most Would Not Snuff Out Tobacco Advertising and Promotion With AM-Poll-Method AP Graphic planned By HOWARD GOLDBERG Associated Press Writer NEW YORK (AP) - Most Americans oppose some of President Clinton's aggressive efforts to shield teen-agers from tobacco advertising and promotion, an Associated Press poll found. Fifty-eight percent reject a proposed ban on tobacco brand names on T-shirts or in sporting events such as auto racing's Winston Cup or the Virginia Slims Tennis Tournament. And 53 percent oppose allowing only black-and-white text - no color or pictures - on tobacco billboards and in cigarette advertisements in magazines read by many young people. Clinton ordered those restrictions Aug. 10 with the goal of cutting teen-age smoking in half. The tobacco industry immediately challenged him in court. The Food and Drug Administration could begin writing the regulations in November unless stopped by the courts or Congress. The poll of 1,007 adults, taken Aug. 16-20, finds relatively weak support for the premise behind the regulations. Only 40 percent agree unequivocally that the tobacco companies actively use advertising and promotion-to try to get youngsters to start smoking. Forty-five percent adhere to the tobacco company argument that ads are mostly aimed at promoting brands to people who already smoke. "The president and the FDA commissioner both said very clearly and loudly that they believe this advertising is targeted at kids. Well, apparently, the public is not ready to buy that assertion," said Walker Merryman, vice president of The Tobacco Institute, an industry group based in Washington. The results are based on telepyhone polling by ICR Survey Research Group of Media, Pa., part of AUS Consultants. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points. The sale of tobacco to minors is illegal, and past polls have made clear that the public is concerned that children nevertheless find ways to smoke and are starting at younger ages. Some remedies included in the regulations, such as a ban on cigarette vending machines, have been popular in past surveys. In the AP poll, 73 percent support Clinton's proposal that the tobacco industry be required to spend $150 million << year on a campaign to discourage teen-age smoking. Even 65 percent of smokers support that idea, which the tobacco industry is ficfhting as an illegal tax. "What these numbers do show is a solid base of support for reducing the appeal of these products to our children," said FDA spokesman Jim O'Hara. He said a study by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 86 percent of underage smoker:> who purchase their own cigarettes buy one of the three most heav:.ly advertised brands. "What is clear is that these advertising and promotions are reaching kids," he said. The percentage of those surveyed who said they had smoked in the past week was 25 percent, almost unchanged from the last time the AP poll asked in 1992.

AP v5117 ra 3exec Poll-Method,0398 08-22 3:03p How AP Poll on Tobacco Advertising Was Conducted With AM-Tobacco-Poll By The Associated Press The Associated Press poll on the advertising and promotion of smoking was taken Aug. 16-20 among a random sample of 1,007 adult Americans in all states except Alaska and Hawaii. Interviewing was done by telephone by ICR Survey Research Group of Media, Pa., part of AUS Consultants. The results were-weighted to represent the population by key demographic factors such as age, sex, region and education. No more than one time in 20 should chance variations in the sample cause the results to vary by more than 3 percentage points from the answers that would be obtained if all Imericans were polled. This margin of sampling error is larger for responses of subgroups, such as age categories. - There are other sources of potential error in polls, including the'wording and order of questions. The questions and results, in which sums may not total 100 percent because of rounding: 1. Do you think the tobacco companies actively use advertising and promotions to try to get youngsters to start smoking or are they mostly just promoting cigarette brands to people who already smoke? Try to get youngsters to start: 40 percent. Volunteered responses such as "Try to get all ages smoking" or "both": 11 percent. Mostly just promoting cigarette brands to smokers: 45 percent. Don't know-no answer: 5 percent. 2. Do you support or oppose having the government allow only black-and-white text - no color or pictures - on tobacco billboards and in cigarette advertisements in magazines that many young people read. Support: 38 percent. Oppose: 53 percent. DK-NA: 9 percent. 3. Do you support or oppose a ban on tobacco brand names on T-shirts or in sporting events such as auto racing's Winston Cup or the Virginia Slims Tennis Tournament? Support: 37 percent. Oppose: 58 percent. DK-NA: 5 percent. 4. Do you support or oppose requiring the •tobacco industry to spend $150 million a year on a campaign to discourage teen-age smoking? Support: 73 percent. Oppose: 24 percent. DK-NA: 4 percent. 5. Have you, yourself smoked in the past week, or are,you a former smoker, or did you never smoke on a regular basis? Current smoker: 25 percent. Former smoker: 24 percent. Never smoked regularly: 51 percent.