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WHITE HOUSE
Obama Signs Bill Regulating Tobacco
President Obama signed legislation Monday that will give the federal government broad new power to regulate the manufacturing, advertising and marketing of cigarettes and other tobacco products.
Obama signed the bill into law during a Rose Garden ceremony, where he hailed it as a landmark measure that would help rein in some of the health damage caused by smoking, which is responsible for more than 400,000 deaths in the United States each year. One-fifth of children in the country are estimated to smoke by the time they graduate from high school.
Obama invoked his own struggles to quit smoking as he pointed out that almost 90 percent of smokers begin the habit by the time they turn 18. "I know -- I was one of these teenagers," said Obama, who has frequently talked publicly about his battle. "And so I know how difficult it can be to break this habit when it's been with you for a long time."
The law requires sterner health warnings on cigarette packs, and it may bring about changes in the formulations of cigarettes and cigars.
It will also require manufacturers to disclose the ingredients in cigarettes and other tobacco products and will institute severe limitations on how they are advertised and promoted.
The measure comes half a century after the surgeon general first warned of tobacco's health risks. Congress has been battling for more than a decade over regulating tobacco, coming close several times but faltering in the face of procedural hang-ups or opposition from the tobacco lobby or the White House. But over the years, changing attitudes toward smoking have helped transform the idea of regulation.
"The decades-long effort to protect our children from the harmful effects of smoking has emerged victorious," Obama said.
-- Michael A. Fletcher
A Deal with PhRMA: President Obama on Monday formally announced an offer by drug manufacturers to contribute $80 billion over the next decade to narrow the gap in Medicare prescription drug coverage, a deal that he said moves the nation a step closer to comprehensive health-care reform.
The president was joined at the White House by A. Barry Rand, head of the senior citizen advocacy group AARP, which endorsed the deal with the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.
