FDA REGS: PHOTO ID NOW REQUIRED FOR TOBACCO PURCHASES

      "[I]n the first of sweeping new tobacco regulations," the
 Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rule requiring photo
 identification to prevent those under 18 from purchasing tobacco
 products goes into effect today.  AP/PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
 reports that under the regulation, retailers are required to card
 all customers who appear younger than 27 "to prevent mature-
 looking minors from buying tobacco."  Retailers who are caught
 selling to minors "face federal fines of $250 per violation"
 (Neergaard, 2/28).  Regulations prohibiting tobacco vending
 machines and marketing tobacco products to minors go into effect
 August 28 (see AHL 8/26/96).
      SUPPORT:  "Today is the beginning of the end of Big
 Tobacco's grip on America's children," said John Garrison,
 managing director of the American Lung Association.  He said, "We
 all have a stake in seeing the FDA rule work well and smoothly"
 (release, 2/28).  Gordon Fung, president of the American Heart
 Association California affiliate, said, "Every year, tobacco-
 related diseases like heart attacks claim more than 400,000 lives
 in this country alone. ... The FDA regulations are a courageous
 and long-awaited response to the epidemic of underage smoking. 
 This new rule is the first national public policy in history to
 stop tobacco companies from marketing their deadly products to
 children and young people" (release, 2/26).