All-Out Effort Urged to Turn Youths Away From Tobacco

In a report that will almost certainly bolster the growing momentum to regulate tobacco, the Institute of Medicine called Tuesday for an aggressive crackdown on cigarettes to keep the nation’s young people from starting to smoke.

The institute, part of the prestigious National Academy of Sciences, recommended a series of tough measures, including curbing tar and nicotine levels in cigarette content, increasing the federal excise tax on cigarettes to $2, and changing the way tobacco products are packaged and promoted.

“Each year, more than 1 million youths become regular smokers. They’re taking an average of 15 years off their lives, and committing our health care system to at least $8.2 billion in extra medical costs over their lifetimes,” said Dr. Paul R. Torrens, professor of health services administration at UCLA and chairman of the committee that wrote the report.

The National Academy of Sciences is an independent policy research organization established by Congress to advise the federal government on science, health and technology.

The report immediately was praised by anti-smoking and public health groups and dismissed by the tobacco industry as a maneuver to help smoking foes in Congress and the Food and Drug Administration further their agendas.

The panel called on Congress and the states to take action to eliminate advertising that encourages tobacco use among the young and urged parents to “clearly and unequivocally” express disapproval of tobacco use by their children.

The panel also recommended banning tobacco vending machines and self-service displays, banning the distribution of free tobacco products in public places or through the mail and requiring merchants to obtain a state license to sell tobacco products.