Tobacco Documents Online

8~ ... Od4s _.•.- ~ wueoAwwrnwawa sERYCO retnssa7~z1 n.a... r.amaang Q16B1RM eXHos aoWasim - oFaMEAlpl4v. '_ za1r.l4,asaea .M. tuE kn. rut rGWe ma~aazc+v aransae~ NaA-rymn Nsafa ~ M/aml Q03Ri)110 (f1Lfl4161i fd09963581 S.vpivpn Biescs7aw . Tianscript DATE August 22, 1996 TIME 3:00-4:00 PM (ET) NETWORK PRO(iRAAS MSNBC-TV News Lisa Kim, reader: s Cigarette manufacturers are fighting a high stakes battle in an Indiana courtroom. Fifty-two year old Richard Rogers, an Indianapolis attorney, died of lung cancer in 1987. His relatives are now suing four tobacco companies, arguing that smoking caused Rogers' cancer and that nicotine is addictive. The jury hears final arguments today. Earlier this month, a Florida jury awarded three quarters of a million dollars to an ex-smoker, with lung cancer. Also, today, Oklahoma joins the list of states demanding that the tobacco industry repay the cost of treating smokers who become ill. Tobacco has become a smoking hot issue this election year. Aides say President Clinton is going to approve new rules, regulating tobacco and classifying it as an addictive drug. That would allow the FDA to crack down on teen smoking by controlling cigarette advertising. The long-awaited move is expected as early as tomorrow, which would give the president a boost with those who support tougher rules, as he heads to the democratic convention next week. But the tobacco industry is expected to challenge any changes in court. We'll have more on tobacco regulations later in this hour. (Unrelated Material Omitted.) John Gibson, anchor: • Welcome back to MSNBC. I'm John Gibson. President Clinton is expected to approve the toughest crackdown yet on the tobacco industry by allowing the FDA to regulate nicotine in tobacco as a drug. This will mark the first time that the FDA exercises such power over tobacco. For now, regulation attempts will concentrate on kids fa/i videxaasette?f9 n/ audu rattette(radla) of tldxnewsaspmenrcontnot veueercst VMSnf6eG Yuni.~+tT~rb~Nw.+~sne.~.rw~Yre.rwars.Mnw:..w'i+s.~m~.~c brN3~r4nniv/acrr~.Yr4tqArw./~abrYW.

• • and smoking. More from NBC's Pete Williams. Pete Williams reporting: Senior administration officials tell NBC News the FDA will use its unprecedented new power cautiously -- at first, limiting only the sale and advertising of tobacco to children. Here's what the FDA's new power will mean. A federal minimum age of eighteen to buy cigarettes and chewing tobacco, proof of age required. A ban on cigarette billboards within a thousand feet of schools. A ban on tee-shirts and hats with tobacco company brands on them. And, restrictions on print advertising young people might see -- black and white text only; no pictures. Tobacco companies would also be required to pay for a national public education campaign, warning young people of the dangers of smoking. Anti-smoking groups say the rules are long overdue. Scott Ballin (Coalition On Smoking And Health): We think it's fair to ensure that retailers are not selling to children and we've never been able to do that on a national basis because of the power and clout of the tobacco industry. Williams: No comment from the president himself but at the White House it's considered smart politics, with polls showing strong support for the idea among women. One supporter of the president said it's good for young people. Sen. Ted Kennedy (Democrat, Massachusetts): If we're going to be serious about dealing with the increase in substance abuse in, among the young people of this country, we ought to get it at the place where we can be most ef£ective and that's starting with children. Williams: Tobacco companies say they want to stop youth smoking too but they say they'll fight the rules, arguing the FDA has no power to regulate tobacco and a pro-smokers group, backed by the tobacco companies, say the rules go too far. Bill Althaus (National Smokers Alliance): There would be no mail-order sale whatsoever, so the home-bound, disabled veteran couldn't get cigarettes that way. There would be no coupons by mail. There would be no vending machines at all. Williams: Administration officials tell NBC News the president decided to take this step because tobacco companies refused to impose restrictions voluntarily. Steps like banning cigarette sales in vending machines. All this will face an immediate challenge in court, 0

• • partly over whether the FDA has the power to regulate tobacco at all and partly over the restrictions on advertising, on free speech grounds. Pete Williams, NBC News, Washington. Gibson: We're going to talk more about that. Joining us now is Alan Landers, spokesman for Citizens For A Tobacco-Free Society. Alan, hang on. We're going to take a break and when we come from that break, more on the new cigarette rules. This is MSNBC. Stay with us. (Unrelated Material Omitted.) Gibson: we're talking now about the new rules that will be imposed by the federal government over the sale of cigarettes, particularly the sale of cigarettes to anyone considered a young person. Joining us now is Alan Landers, spokesman from Citizens For A Tobacco-Free Society. Hi Alan. Thanks for coming. Alan Landers (Citizens For A Tobacco-Free Society): Thank you for having me on. Gibson: Alan is in Miami. Alan, what kind of impact do these commercials, these cigarette commercials, really have on kids? I mean, really. Landers: They have a tremendous impact on kids because first of all you have six billion dollars worth of advertising that's, what I call, in-your-face advertising and they're constantly confronted with it. They're confronted with it in all the magazines, the billboards, in the movies -- they see everybody smoking, so they think it's coo]. to smoke and this starts when they're like the age I was, which was about nine years old, when I started smoking. That's what I was confronted with. Even now, today, I think it might even be equal or worse. Gibson; Alan, you know, I suppose the cigarettes could be packaged in a package that just had a skull and crossbones on it, but we see kids interested in bands called Megadeath and so forth, I mean, how much difference is it really going to make? Landers: Oh, I think it makes a big difference. If you had the proper labels on it, like, let's say, you had it where it said 'addictive poison' or listed the carcinogens -- first of all, the government doesn't regulate what goes into the tobacco, which, I think, would be great if they did -- at least, list what goes into the tobacco so people knew that there were -- a kid would know when he picked"it up that number one, it's addictive; number two, that it i