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President Obama signed a bill giving the Food and Drug Administration control over Big Tobacco on June 22. The legislation is known as the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.
This will lead to tobacco products having larger warning labels, including images of the effects of smoking and will prevent the use of terms like “light” or “mild” to describe types of tobacco.
For myself, I’m confused as to why this is necessary. Tobacco is not in the spotlight anymore. Everyone knows tobacco is dangerous, it isn’t considered cool to smoke anymore and less people are picking up the habit every year.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the percentage of U.S. citizens 18 and older who smoke has dropped from 33.3 percent to just under 21 percent in the last 30 years.
Nancy Brown, CEO for the American Heart Association, said in regard to the bill, “No longer will Big Tobacco be allowed to deceive children and adults with misleading claims about hazardous products. No longer will tobacco companies have free rein to launch shameless advertising campaigns targeting children in hopes of addicting a new generation of smokers.”
First of all, that statement is offensive to all smokers. It implies that they are not able to think for themselves and that they were duped into smoking by Big Tobacco. Secondly, children are not exposed to tobacco advertisements anymore. Tobacco ads have been banned from television and radio for over 20 years. Even Time, People, Sports Illustrated and Newsweek magazines stopped placing tobacco ads in 2003 to decrease Big Tobacco’s reach to children.
The only regulated exposure children get to tobacco is the incessant anti-smoking advertisements and demonstrations they have at school, year after year. Children’s minds are constantly pummeled by statistics telling them that smoking is deadly. They get the point already.
We have known for decades that smoking is bad and I’m tired of anti-smoking advocates acting like they are telling us new information. The fact of the matter is that smokers don’t care that smoking is dangerous, much in the same way that obese people don’t care that fast food is dangerous.
This bill is pointless. No matter how large the disclaimer, no matter how graphic the pictures of smokers’ lungs are, no matter if tobacco types are called “light” or “mild,” no matter if there are no advertisements for tobacco ever again, smokers are going to smoke.
Matt Binter is a junior in sociology. Please send comments to opinion@spub.ksu.edu.
