Tobacco advertising is everywhere – in magazines, outside nearly every store and gas station, and inside convenience shops. Ads are often right at a child’s eye level.
Legislation only exists in the U.S. to limit and not to prevent all of this:
1973 – Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act – banned tobacco ads on radio and television
1998 – Master Settlement Agreement – banned tobacco billboards and direct marketing to children (i.e. via cartoon characters)
Yet, the tobacco industry spends millions of dollars a day pushing their product to any audience possible, and the CDC estimates that 3,000 children start smoking each day.
In many other countries, tobacco marketing is completely banned, including the display of cigarettes in stores. Children are growing up without even knowing what a cigarette is.
The U.S. should follow their lead.