PRESIDENT Clinton pledged to put "Joe Camel and Marlboro Man out of our children's reach forever" as he announced his widely leaked plan to curb teenage smoking yesterday. But lawsuits already initiated by tobacco firms against the measures could delay their implementation for several years.
The President, in his fourth successive appearance on the White House lawn this week to sign new legislation and make announcements, said that deaths attributed to smoking were "the most significant public health problem" in the US.
The announcement will damage his support in the southern tobacco growing states. Republican Senator Jesse Helms said that the President "is in effect declaring war on 76,000 North Carolinians who gain their livelihood in one form or another from tobacco".
Shares of tobacco stocks have also fallen. The major tobacco companies have already started legal actions to block the programme on constitutional grounds. Recently, the Supreme Court struck down a ban on liquor advertising in Rhode Island as against the First Amendment on free speech.
Flanked by teenagers in red Tshirts with the slogan "Tobacco free kid", the President said that every day 3,000 young people started smoking. "Today, we are taking direct action to protect our children from tobacco and especially the advertising that hooks children on a product," he said.
The President's action means that nicotine in cigarettes is now officially classified as a drug and can be regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The agency plans to cut teenage smoking by half in seven years by making cigarettes less appealing to young people than the way they are portrayed in today's advertisements.
Hence, all tobacco advertising in magazines mainly for teenagers will have to be in black and white with no pictures. Billboards with cigarette ads will not be allowed within 1,000 feet (300m) of schools or playgrounds. Other cigarette billboard advertising can be in black and white only.
Vending machines will not be allowed where young people have access. Young people buying cigarettes will have to prove they are aged over 18.
No targeting of young people through the use of brand names on T shirts or gym bags will be allowed. Tobacco bran name sponsorship of sporting events twill also be banned.
The leaking of the anti smoking measures several days beforehand is seen by the Republican opposition as a clever move by the President to distract attention from a report that teenage drug use has doubled during his first term.
The leaks also took attention from the President's signing of the welfare reform Bill, which removes federal protection for poorer families.