THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 8, 1997 TAG: 9702080400
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PAUL NOWELL, ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: GREENSBORO LENGTH: 70 lines
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is preparing to enforce new rules designed to curb teen-age smoking - but the powerful tobacco and advertising industries see much more at stake.
``The tobacco industry sees this as the first shot over the bow in the effort to outlaw cigarettes,'' said Wake Forest University law professor David Logan, who has closely monitored a legal battle over the regulations.
Advertisers consider the rules a threat to the First Amendment.
``It's clearly the most important advertising case of this decade,'' said Daniel Jaffee of the Association of National Advertisers. ``How this case is finally decided will give more clarification to the protection of advertising under the First Amendment than ever before.''
With the first phase of the tough new FDA regulations set to take effect Feb. 28, the industries go to court on Monday to challenge the government's anti-tobacco stance.
The stakes are astronomical for both industries.
The new FDA regulations would cut deeply into the tobacco industry's $6 billion-a-year advertising and marketing efforts. Plaintiff Philip Morris Inc., the nation's largest cigarette maker, spends an estimated $2 billion a year on advertising and marketing. No. 2, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., is not far behind.
About 1 million teen-agers begin smoking each year. President Clinton says the restrictions are needed to cut that number in half.
The first FDA move, to be enforced starting Feb. 28, would require photo identification with proof of age for cigarette purchases.
Other regulations would ban tobacco billboards within 1,000 feet of any school or playground. Ads in magazines with more than 15 percent youth readership would be restricted to black and white text with no photos.
In other words, no more Joe Camel ads in magazines like Rolling Stone or Sports Illustrated.
The rules would also ban caps, gym bags or T-shirts that carry cigarette-brand logos and prohibit brand-name sponsorship of sporting or entertainment events.
Much of the Clinton administration's program will be phased in over the coming months, including the restrictions on advertising and limits on vending machines. Rules banning cigarette sponsorships of sporting events are still more than a year away.
Monday, U.S. District Judge William Osteen will hear oral arguments on a challenge to the FDA rules by the tobacco companies and advertising firms. The plaintiffs are challenging the FDA's authority to issue the regulations and questioning whether the rules violate the companies' First Amendment guarantees.
The plaintiffs are asking the judge to decide without a trial that the FDA lacks legal authority to regulate cigarettes. In lieu of that, they could seek an injunction to block the regulations from going into effect until the lawsuit is over.
``The FDA regulations dramatically affect the way we do our business,'' said RJR attorney Charles Blixt. ``They dramatically affect all of the businesses involved in tobacco sales and advertising.''
For his part, FDA spokesman Mitch Zeller said the agency is going to court to defend itself against a legal challenge by the tobacco and advertising industries.
``The statistics are alarming,'' Zeller said. ``We've seen a 50 percent rise in smoking among eighth and tenth graders. This is a sign the problem of youth smoking is severe and it's getting worse.''
Zeller said the legal arguments are not lost on FDA regulators.
Attorneys for the advertisers will argue that the FDA rules are unconstitutional, said Jaffee, of the advertisers' group.
KEYWORDS: TOBACCO INDUSTRY SMOKING