Today, President Barack Obama cracked down on cigarette marketers saying it will will help young people just say no to tobacco.Smoking is a personal issue for the president as he has been a smoker and started at a young age.
He signed the legislation today and said it would help cut the "constant and insidious barrage of advertising" that lures millions of America’s youth into the life of tobacco.
The new law gives sweeping authority to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco products and bans tobacco companies from using youth-oriented “gimmicks” or lure-ins.It even affects tobacco companies sponsoring certain events.
When asked, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs recently took a pass on declaring Obama a nonsmoker.
"I think the president would likely tell you, as I think . . . anybody would that has smoked or been addicted to smoking, that it is a lifelong struggle," Gibbs said.
The new law also creates a Center for Tobacco Products to oversee the science-based regulation of tobacco products in the United States.
