A decade ago it would have been unthinkable, but on June 12th, Congress passed the toughest anti-tobacco bill in American history. Those who had waged a long fight against “Big Tobacco” rejoiced. Senator Edward Kennedy hailed the bill as proof that “miracles still happen” in Washington, DC.

The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act gives the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) broad power to regulate tobacco products and marketing efforts. Health advocates have long complained that the FDA has oversight over more innocuous products, like lipstick, but not cigarettes, which are responsible for more than 400,000 American deaths a year. The new law will require disclosure of all product ingredients and the placement of more prominent warning labels on packages. The FDA will also have the right to review all new tobacco products before they go to market and to ban companies from advertising any of its products as healthier alternatives by describing them as “lite” or “mild”, for example.

The bill focuses on deterring young people from puffing away. It will outlaw flavoured tobacco (except for menthol), which some claim lures children, and bar tobacco advertisements from appearing near schools. The Congressional Budget Office says the new legislation will reduce the number of young smokers by 11 per cent and adult smokers by 2 per cent by 2019. Some say the legislation will save many more lives. Nine out of ten smokers start before the age of 18, reckons the American Cancer Society’s advocacy affiliate, so hindering tobacco companies’ access to youth could reduce the number of smokers dramatically in the long term.

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