Hazards of smoking - actions to minimize risks

  What is being done to protect people from the hazards of smoking?

Both the public and private sectors have acted to help decrease smoking-related deaths and illnesses in this country. Since 1966, the US Surgeon General’s health warnings have been required on all cigarette packages and, since 1987, on all spit or oral tobacco products. As of 2001, the 7 major cigar manufacturers in the United States began providing 5 health warnings that rotate on cigar labels, similar to those on cigarette packages.

Congress banned television and radio cigarette advertising on TV and radio in 1971 and spit tobacco advertising in 1987. The American Legacy Foundation and many states conduct creative antismoking public service messages that are featured on television, radio, and billboards.

Taxes on cigarettes have risen in many states in recent years. They have been shown to discourage young people from starting to smoke and to encourage smokers to quit. State taxes on tobacco vary from less than 10 cents a pack in some states to more than 2 dollars a pack in others.

Laws in all 50 states and the District of Columbia restrict or do not allow smoking in certain public places. These laws range from simple restrictions, such as designated areas in government buildings, to laws that ban smoking in all public places and workplaces. Many federal worksites, including the White House, are smoke-free. Smoking is also banned on all domestic airplane flights.

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