Obama Signs Anti-Smoking Bill, Cites Own Struggle

WASHINGTON — Lamenting his first teenage cigarette, President Barack Obama ruefully admitted on Monday that he's spent his adult life fighting the habit. Then he signed the nation's toughest anti-smoking law, aiming to keep thousands of other teens from getting hooked.

Obama praised the historic legislation, which gives the Food and Drug Administration unprecedented authority to regulate what goes into tobacco products, to make public the ingredients and to prohibit marketing campaigns geared toward children.

But he didn't say how his own struggle was coming since he moved into the White House. And aides were no more forthcoming.

As senator, candidate and now president, Obama has veered between frank and cagey about his personal battle with smoking.

He promised his wife, Michelle, more than two years ago that he would quit if she let him seek the White House.

He has often acknowledged since that he has "fallen off the wagon." But he hardly ever provides specifics. And though White House aides pack nicotine gum in their jackets to help him resist, they also refuse to give a clear answer to the question of whether the president still sneaks a smoke now and again.

"I hate it," Michelle Obama told CBS' "60 Minutes" during the presidential campaign's early days. "That's why he doesn't do it anymore, I'm proud to say. I outed him _ I'm the one who outed him on the smoking. That was one of my prerequisites for, you know, entering this race is that, you know, he couldn't be a smoking president."

Well, not exactly.

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During Obama's two-year White House bid, he was known to occasionally bum a cigarette from a staff member _ while also making sure to emphasize his efforts to stop for good and his progress from his onetime five-smoke-a-day average.

During Monday's bill signing, Obama focused on how the new law would help keep future generations of kids away from the dangerous habit. The president mentioned his own experience very briefly _ just 30 words.

Almost 90 percent of people who smoke began at 18 or younger, he said.

"I know. I was one of these teenagers," he said. "And so I know how difficult it can be to break this habit when it's been with you for a long time."

And then he went back to the merits of the bill and the shortcomings of the tobacco industry, which he accused of targeting young people. One key provision in the new law bans candy-flavored cigarettes and the use of other flavored smokes that might appeal to teenagers. Ads aimed at young people also are banned.

Aides refused to elaborate on his own situation.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said he hadn't asked Obama about his smoking and made plain that he didn't plan to. The presidential spokesman stuck to vague language that left the impression Obama still occasionally falls off the wagon, but he did not say so directly.

"I don't, honestly, see the need to get a whole lot more specific than the fact that it's a continuing struggle," Gibbs said. "He struggles with it every day."

Still, it's not as if Obama was ever even a pack-a-day puffer.

"I've never been a heavy smoker," Obama told The Chicago Tribune in 2007. "I've quit periodically over the last several years. I've got an ironclad demand from my wife that in the stresses of the campaign I don't succumb. I've been chewing Nicorette strenuously."

Comments

[WildElf]

Riduclous bill. SO "candy" flavors are banned, which actually focuses on flavors like clove and such which are high end and only adults by. Most kids buy Malboro or other cheap, non-flavored brands. It's about the appearance and the nicotine high, not the taste. Smoking isn't a psychological addiction, but a psychical one. The flavor doesn't mean anything.

And of course, the biggest "candy" flavor of them all, menthol, is not banned. Why is this? Because Phillip Morris sponsored the bill and they don't make any of the "candy" flavors that got banned. They do make menthols, though.

I'm really disappointed in Obama on this. We wanted special interest out of government, but we are getting more of the same.

[Mokshaman]

Okay, so - this new anti-smoking legislation, per the article, gives the Food and Drug Administration: 1. Authority to regulate what goes into tobacco products 2. Authority to make public the ingredients, and 3. Authority to prohibit marketing campaigns geared toward children. Isn't this essentially the same authority and general approach that the federal government *already* utilizes with respect to quite a few other products, at least in part? What, exactly, is *bad* about this legislation? When I first saw some of the comments, I thought, "Wow - this has got to be something seriously Draconian!"; the repealing of the fourth amendment in the name of anti-smoking, or some such -- and then I saw the details -- and it just kinda doesn't seem all that terrible. As you may have noticed (see: recession/­depression­), left to their own devices, *some* people will let greed cloud their better judgment, and do stuff like upend the lives of millions of people, in the name of zillion dollar bonuses, paid for, in the end, with tax dollars from those same millions of people. Attempting to protect the public from that kind of behavior isn't the worst use of tax dollars we've seen, in my opinion.

[beckpod1]

What happened to.."Freedom Sticks?" It became a patriotic issue to let women smoke...exercise their freedom.
My dad smoked since he was 13. He lived to 86....and he didn't die from lung cancer!
I could never smoke...tasted so bad...
Although I've been smoking pot for over 30 years(never inhaled though)....I'm in my fifties...I jog...I eat well(and don't over eat)...one glass of Merlot a day at dinner. But pot...if you use it correctly...one or two puffs...put it out....done. Only idiots chain smoke pot....! And those are the same people who drink a six-pack for starters. I don't need big brother(or big sister)to help me there...and it's funny...government doesn't want to protect me when it comes to corporations outspending political candidates of integrity so they can shove their horses down my throat!

[mac03m]

My grandfather passed away recently from lung cancer due to smoking. He told me once that he quit smoking for about a year and then took it back up again simply because he missed it. I remember asking him to quit over and over again but he always responded by telling me that even though he knew smoking was bad, he liked it very much. To him nothing beat drinking a cup of coffee and smoking while reading a newspaper. He knew the danger involved in it, but he was a person that believed people should be alowed to do what they want to do. Both my parents smoked for many years before my mother got pregnant for the first time with my brother. They both decided to quit at that point and never took it up again. I miss my grandfather, and I believe smoking is a very nasty and dangerous habbit. But I also believe we need to let people make their own choices and take responsibility for their actions. This "Big Brother" idea many have about the government is just wrong. We should simply teach people about the dangers of smoking and let them make up their own minds.

[jbeach]

I'm sorry to hear of your grandfather.

I personally don't see how this bill is Big Brother at all. It's preventing tobacco companies from targeting youngsters. Grownups can and will still be wholly able to make their own individual choices about smoking.

[sosi]

This President is also human (a few excluded); Congress adds another provision: no smoking in WH...

[RightWingMarine]

smoking inside fed buildings is already prohibited save for residences. In the spirit of the law the President should refrain from smoking outside of the residential areas of the WH

[Harmony1812]

He said he wouldn't smoke in the White House. I have a feeling tha Michelle kicks him outside or he sneaks out "to walk Bo."

[SammyD]

FDA has such an excellent record lately, yes?

[Servility]

But unlike Food and Drugs, it doesn't matter how bad they screw up Tobacco.

[Harmony1812]

LOL. I'm sure they tried by adding more nicotime and flavorings.

[VPN]

Less than sterling track record the last eight,, one more thing to thank the Boo$h disaster for.

[whatever57]

Why can McDonalds advertise on TV but Philip Morris cannot?
How are plastic toys with the fat and salt Happy Meals different than candy cigarettes?
Why doesn't Big Mac packaging say "This will kill you", the way cigarette packaging does?

[theconformist]

I'm sure they'll get around to junk/fast food soon enough, fascist.

[HaloGuy]

I can sympathize with Obama - I just relapsed after my unteempth attempt to quit smoking over the last 13 years. I have been a smoker for more than half my life, and despite every effort to quit it continues to elude me. I hope that this bill will help other kids not make the same mistake I did of taking up that first puff.

I do think, though, that all of the pressure on this issue should be directed at the tobacco companies themselves. Tax them heavily, and force a much higher sales tax on all cigarette vendors. I am a smoker, but if it cost me 30 bucks a pack you better believe I'd be slower to buy more smokes to fulfill my half-pack a day habit.

[nunaem]

Yes, hook them when it's cheap and then raise the prices through the roof. /s

You could be a tobacco lobbyist if there weren't already so many.

[RightWingMarine]

raise the price too high and we will get blackmarket smokes.

[whatever57]

How about banning McDonalds and similar commercials in the midst of this obesity and health care crisis. In the future we will understand that giving kids toys with their fat and salt Happy Meals was the same or worse than candy cigarettes.

At least make them post a message about how super sizing will make you fat, clog your arteries and give you diabetes.

[Servility]

The parents can always "just say no!"

[nunaem]

Not to rain on your parade, but the crap in the supermarket is just as bad as mcdonalds.

[CaptainObvious]

I see a lot of people on here making the argument that this is a good thing, because my smoking is driving up your insurance rates. Perhaps someone can help me out - I seem to have missed the section of this bill that deals with health insurance costs. You'd think, since smoking has been on the decline for the last 30 years, that our health insurance cost should start to go down here eventually.  If you think this bill is going to do anything to affect your health care costs, I've got a bridge to sell you. 

Let's look at this bill for what it really is. This is a clever ploy by the insurance companies to get the people to start blaming each other for the high cost of health insurance, instead of placing the blame where it truly belongs - at the feet of the private insurance companies. 

[tc2598]

Maybe we like the bill because we don't want you blowing poison gas at us, and we don't want you blowing poison gas at our kids, and we don't want moronic behavior like the constant inhalation of poison gas to be something our kids look up to, and maybe because there are no positive things to say about smoking at all.

Maybe that's it, genius.

[bobbyperu]

Grow up idjit!

[CaptainObvious]

So I guess you drive an electric car, powered by electricity you're generating yourself, via wind, solar, or some other "green" technology? Where do you get the electricity to run your computer?

I hear there are no coal-fired power plants in Antarctica. Perhaps you should consider moving there.

[RightWingMarine]

if you and your children don't want to breath the poison gas perhaps you should stay out of Captain Obvious' home and if you don't want to breath the poison gas he exhales over dinner then prehaps you should avoid the resturants he frequents that permit smoking.

Just because you don't like smoking doesn't mean you should get to tell others they can't do it.

[Harmony1812]

I prefer auto emissions to cigarettes. I think we should cut down all the trees that use up all the carbon dioxide and emit that awful oxygen stuff And I think water should have more of a kick or maybe glow in the dark. I think the butts add to the aeration of the surface soil. Steroids and antibiotics in our food help our kids grow big and strong. And global warming will keep our winters milder. I hope that when they legalize marijuana we can smoke in public again so I can get high off someone else's second hand smoke for free.
(Just wanted to share a laugh)

[Center-of-the-Bird]

I really don't think you need to worry about your health insurance just yet, at least not for the reason you have stated.
If 2 people marry and have kids knowing there is a high chance of medical problems with their offspring, should they be denied care? If a rancher decides to stick his hand inside a moving piece of equipment, should he be denied? Can we put a "stupid" restriction on medical care? No and ultimately we can't on tobacco related issues either, like it or not, you are your brother's keeper. He's stupid but he's your brother.
Logically, all us stupid people (who do things we know we shouldn't do), would be denied any medical treatment, problem always is, everyone has a little stupid in them. Lighten up, it's not that bad yet.

[whatever57]

The net cost to the non-smokers is about zero. Smokers pay alot of tax. They also don't collect social security checks for very long. The reason to ban advertisement of cigarettes is that advertising works and nicotine is highly addictive. It's the same as the heroin pusher on the street corner giving away free samples. It's a hazard to the general welfare.

[Harmony1812]

We're sick for a lot more reasons than smoking. Our food is lousy. We are stressed. We don't work out. Insurance companies are greedy. And, oh yeah - our Health Care System Sucks.

[maribelle1963]

Mr. President--with everything you're dealing with, I say "smoke 'em if you got 'em."

5 a day won't kill you. I'm more worried about your stress level.

[maribelle1963]

Note to others: If you don't want your post to be held up for hours in moderation queue, don't use the word "k i l l" in a post about our POTUS.

My mistake.

[Center-of-the-Bird]

Interesting responses but I think some are missing the most important point of this bill, the FDA authority.
The FDA can now judge tobacco as a drug, determine if (duh) menthol and other additives make the drug worse, then require the additives to be removed, require limits, etc. If you were counting on smoking freedoms increasing, it's not going to happen but no one has (yet) passed a law making tobacco illegal, this law is designed to put the FDA in charge, IMO everything else is just dressing. BTW, putting the FDA in charge has been the mantra for decades, this is not new. Once tobacco is officially subject to drug laws anything could happen, it depends on the humans!
To those who say this law has no teeth, look again in 12 months, unless public opinion suddenly starts lighting up, cigs go underground, which is where they still may be cool.
Now I think I'll go outside for a cig, don't want to stink up my house.

[tc2598]

Smoker's rights folks are among the most amusing of Obama's critics.

We're talking about poison gas, geniuses. Keep on bitchin'.

[Teamster]

Ages have past since proabition and tobbaco can not be regulated either .



It is an ag product of turkey south america and many world countries .

the US Administratation is only punishing grower harvesters workers
in the United States.
And by the way America had tobacco growing here before the
colony settelments .

Nicotine once was an exported by the colonies
as medicinal.the the European continent.

The wild today has wild sourdock a producte os simular use also corn silks
pot in California legalied ?

[maigesheng]

Your post doesnt rally make alot of sense. It seems, though,. that you are trying to say that we cannot regulate tobacco products.

You need to realize that "regulation" does not equal "prohabition"

You said that prohabition didnt work and that therefore reguation wont either?

Apples and oranges. No one is calling on a prohabition against cigarettes. They are asking to regulate them. Alchohol IS INDEED regulated and arguably, it has some effect. I think that this will also have some effect.

Smokes will still be legal but, with if they are not targeting children, and it is well know, the poisen that is inside them, ALONG WITH the growing costs, It seems that sales will go down.

Only punishing harvester and growers??
Beg to differ again. Sure, they will be hurt but, shouldnt they? They hurt others with their product. But, they will only be hurt because tobacco corporations will ALSO be hurt..

[guywhocantype]

"Sure they will be hurt but, shouldn't they? They hurt others with their product."

um....then shouldn't we find a way to punish firearm makers? Their product kills people. Knife makers....their product hurts many people. Sugar producers....their product makes people fat.

I don't mind the FDA regulating tobacco, but this will translate in a few months into higher prices for cigarettes, on top of the whopping $1/pack tax that just got slapped on them. Singling out cigarettes for "sin taxes" is not right. If an adult wants to smoke, knowing full well that it is unhealthy, then he/she should be able to. Trying to price people out of smoking ain't gonna work. It will create a black market, which will create more crime, which will fill up our jails even more.

You know, eating a greasy fast food burger everyday is very bad for you. Should we slap a sin tax there, and criminalize parents who feed their kids any fast food?

[Pastilles]

I voted for Obama... But really; aren't there more important issues in this country that need addresing? What a wasted day.

[Oldtt]

Since health reform is apparently going to fail, this is the next best thing.