On Tuesday April 1, 1970 President Richard Nixon signed a measure banning cigarette advertising on radio and television, to take effect in January 1,

April 1, 2008 - On Tuesday April 1, 1970 President Richard Nixon signed a measure banning cigarette advertising on radio and television, to take effect in January 1, 1971.. Until then, names such as Lucky Strike, Chesterfield and Philip Morris had sponsored some of the most famous shows since the earliest days of broadcasting. In 1970, U.S. tobacco firms made more than 560 billion cigarettes. Annual output is now just under 490 billion, with about a quarter of those sold overseas. always one step ahead of tobacco control people This law and the one to strengthen the cigarette labeling law in 1969 also gave tobacco companies a comfortable margin to work in to increase their sales. In other words, as long tobacco companies’ ads and packaging carried the Surgeon General’s warning, they could face no other regulations in any state, and no state was allowed to prohibit any smoking in any area for health reasons. (A Brief History of Tobacco Use Adapted from Tobacco.org’s "Tobacco Timeline" by Gene Borrio.) We wonder if history is repeating itself with the "Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act" under consideration now before the U.S. Congress. Especially with Philip Morris USA being a co-sponsored of this legislation and now with so many concessions being granted. UST Inc., the biggest U.S. maker of smokeless tobacco products and the North American unit of Swedish Match AB which also sells smokeless tobacco announced they would support the bill. The bill was amended to give smokeless companies the ability to give away free samples to adults under limited circumstances which hadn't been allowed in earlier versions of the bill. Some small tobacco companies were expected soon to announce they were supporting the House bill. The move comes after they won a promise of changes including extra time before certain regulations would apply to them.( Support Grows for Tobacco Bill By Anna Wilde Mathews, The Wall Street Journal, 4/1/2008) The National Association of Convenience Stores dropped it's opposition to the bill after promised concessions including an agreement that stores found to have sold tobacco to underage consumers could have some fines reduced if they had training programs in place to educate staff about age requirement. ( Retailer Concerns Addressed? Group withdraws opposition to House FDA tobacco regulation bill, April 1, 2008) See related news brief: Lack of Credibility - Reynolds American's Campaign to Derail the Federal Tobacco Regulation Bill.. Recently, Dr. Brad Rodu and cronies now representing Star Scientific made fools of the tobacco control people in the State of Maine. Click on image to enlarge..