President Clinton declared nicotine an addictive drug and imposed strict limits on tobacco use by minors, the White House said Friday, in a dramatic election-year assault on the tobacco industry.
The action, which Clinton planned to announce this afternoon, hands the president a potentially potent political weapon against Republican rival Bob Dole, who has expressed reservation about regulating tobacco."With this action, the president in essence has accepted the FDA's determination that cigarettes and smokeless tobacco are delivery devices for the drug nicotine," press secretary Mike McCurry said.
The Food and Drug Administration regulations, as expected, closely resemble Clinton's 1995 proposal to regulate tobacco advertising, sales and access aimed at minors, McCurry said. Clinton gave his final blessing Thursday, he said.
In its proposed regulations, the FDA had identified nicotine as an addictive drug, thus giving the agency the authority to control its sale and distribution. Clinton's action endorsed the proposed regulations, including the drug determination for nicotine.
Clinton's proposals would:
- Require the tobacco industry to fund a $150 million education campaign to stop kids from smoking, with a major emphasis on television public service spots. Aides did not say whether the provision was amended by the FDA.
- Forbid brand-name sponsorship of sporting events and brand-name advertising on products like hats and T-shirts that are not related to tobacco use.
Clinton's initial proposal also included a ban on all cigarette vending machines and self-serve displays, allowing cigarettes to be sold only by clerks over the counter.
But a senior White House official, insisting on anonymity, said the vending machine ban has been amended to bar vending machines only from places where minors have access. For example, bars would be able to keep the vending machines; grocery stores would not.
Still, the regulations mark a historic shift in the balance of power between Washington's bureaucracy and the powerful tobacco industry. It is bound to hurt Clinton politically in Southern tobacco-producing states, though internal polls show enormous appeal - particularly among women - elsewhere.
The development, leaked to the media in an orchestrated fashion by the White House earlier this week, overshadowed Dole's withering attacks on Clinton for skyrocketing use of drugs by teens.
The White House expects stiff courtroom challenges from tobacco interests, McCurry said. Some 14 states are suing tobacco companies demanding the industry repay billions of dollars spent on smoking-related illnesses.
Dole, stung by his recent questioning of whether nicotine is addictive, wouldn't go near the issue while campaigning Thursday. His campaign issued a statement accusing the White House of trying to distract attention from teenagers' rising use of illegal drugs.
Dole's wife, Elizabeth, was questioned by reporters in North Carolina about the FDA rules and said, "I can only look at it as an election-year gimmick. Bob Dole has always said children should not smoke."
McCurry said the rule takes effect immediately, though the specific crackdowns take effect at different times - the first in six months. The action means:
- No more three-dimensional Joe Camel ads offering free concert tickets in magazines like Rolling Stone that are read by thousands of teenagers. The only cigarette ads that could appear in such magazines would be black-and-white, text-only.
- No more cigarette billboards within 1,000 feet of schools - or pictures on any billboards, like the Marlboro Man who rides beside the nation's interstates.
The FDA aims, within seven years, to cut in half teenage smoking, through far-reaching restrictions designed to snuff tobacco's appeal as sexy and fun, as well as its availability to minors.
The bans would cut at least $600 million from the tobacco industry's $6 billion annual marketing tab, said attorney John Fithian of the Freedom to Advertise Coalition, advertising groups that have sued to block the FDA.