Lights (cigarette Type) - 2009 Anti-smoking Legislation

2009 Anti-smoking Legislation

In June 2009, the Senate passed anti-smoking legislation described by USA Today as “the most sweeping tobacco-control measure ever passed by Congress,” and this legislation directly impacts the marketing and consumption of light tobacco products. In addition to giving the FDA regulatory power over all tobacco products, the bill severely restricts the tobacco industry’s previous marketing strategies, many of which relied on making implicit health claims about their products. According to the bill, cigarette manufacturers are also forbidden from using product descriptors such as “light,” “low-tar,” and “mild.”

Critics of the legislation question whether it will have a significant impact on today’s pervasive tobacco market. For one, the bill does not specify acceptable words for differentiating light cigarettes from other cigarettes. Cigarette manufacturers quickly responded to this loophole by strategically color-coding their products so that Camel Lights, for example, is now Camel Blue. Nik Modi, a tobacco industry analyst, concedes that prohibiting terms like "light" and "low-tar" will hardly affect the tobacco market because smokers have already “become acclimated to color-coding.”