FDA To Launch Anti-Smoking Campaign by September 2012

By September 2012, FDA will launch a series of multimedia campaigns to educate the public about the dangers of smoking as part of a five-year, $600 million initiative to reduce the national smoking rate. FDA officials note that although the rate has dropped from nearly 40% in the 1970s to about 20% in 2004, it has remained stagnant since then. The initiative will coincide with the launch of new graphic warning labels on cigarette packages that depict the health risks associated with tobacco consumption. The campaigns will be funded with user fees generated under a 2009 law that gave FDA new regulatory powers over the tobacco industry.

• "FDA Plans To Spend $600M on Anti-Smoking Campaigns" (Felberbaum, AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 11/2).