Clinton proposes holding tobacco industry accountable for teen smoking
By Kelly Wallace/CNN
February 4, 2000
Web posted at: 12:31 p.m. EST (1731 GMT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- To crack down on smoking by minors, President Bill Clinton
wants to make the tobacco industry pay $3000 for every smoker under the age of
18, and also proposes raising the the tax on cigarettes by another 25 cents per
pack.
Clinton will include these initiatives in his final budget, which will
be unveiled Monday.
The $3,000 penalty on the tobacco industry for every underage smoker would
go into effect in 2004 only if youth smoking has not been cut in half by then,
according to the White House, and would remain in place until that goal has
been met.
The administration says there are currently 4.1 million teen smokers,
according to the latest National Household Survey of Drug Abuse conducted by
the Department of Health and Human Services.
An administration official said any 12- to 17-year-old who admitted smoking
once in the last 30 days in the survey is considered an underage smoker.
The $3,000 penalty represents twice the lifetime profits the industry is
expected to make from teen smoking, according to the administration.
An official said the penalty would be assessed across the board on all
tobacco companies.
The official added the White House believes it is on "sound legal ground"
in assessing this kind of penalty.
The president will also call for a 25-cent tax increase on every pack of
cigarettes, which is on top of the 45-cent increase agreed to by the states and
the tobacco industry in 1998, according to the White House.
Last year, Clinton's proposal of a 55-cent tax increase on a pack of
cigarettes never moved through the GOP-controlled Congress.
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