Tobacco Facts.

Gilbert Savalza started smoking when he was 13. “Curiosity, it’s like candy you can’t eat it, so you want some,” said the Fresno County resident. Savalza is now 53 years old and has no plans to quit.

LaKim McCoy picked up her first cigarette in the 9th grade. The 23-year old also grew up to be a smoker.

“It’s not a good habit what so ever, but people get addicted to it,” said McCoy.

But, a new anti-smoking bill will keep tobacco companies from marketing their products to future smokers including children and provide the public with information they need to understand the dangers. It’s called the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. It gives the Food and Drug Administration unprecedented new powers to regulate tobacco products.

“This is something that tobacco control advocates have been working on for over ten years,” said Leila Gholamrezei with the Fresno County Health Department’s Tobacco Prevention Program.

The bill stops the sell of candy-flavored cigarettes and limits the tobacco industry from running ads featuring sexy young smokers.

“Tobacco control advocates have half the amount of money to spend and by restricting promotions and advertisements we can greatly reduce the number of kids that have access to billboards and magazine ads,” said Gholamrezei, “even sporting events have tobacco industry sponsorship. The legislation will control that.”

In Fresno County alone, health officials say 16.5% of young people smoke. President Obama who also picked up his first cigarette at a young age and has struggled to quit said the measure would “protect our kids and improve our public health.”

The President has promised to sign the Tobacco Bill into law. The FDA is expected to begin implementing changes within a year, requiring the tobacco industry to stop labeling products as “light”, “mild” or “low tar”, terms officials say mislead smokers into thinking the products are safer than they really are.

Fresno County Health Department says if smokers knew more about what they’re inhaling they may decide to quit for good. The bill requires cigarette companies to also list all of their ingredients.

“That’s good because people should know what they are putting in them,” said Savalza, a life-long smoker.
© Kmph

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