Newspaper Page Text
10
December 28, 1995
FDA’s plan to regulate tobacco
advertising violates free speech
The proposed restrictions constitute a nearly unprecedented assault on individual freedom.
By Oscar J. Coffey Jr.
President, U.S. African-American
Chamber of Commerce
The Food and Drug Adminis
tration (FDA) is currently tak
ing steps to restrict the advertis
ing and promotion of cigarettes.
If the FDA has its way, its ac
tions would not only limit how
retailers can sell legal products
but also how media can adver
tise them.
These restrictions include ban
ning tobacco brand-name event
sponsorships, as well as prohib
iting the use of tobacco brand
names on items such as T-shirts,
caps and lighters. The FDA also
wants to dictate the form and
content of print advertisements
for tobacco products.
Taken as a whole, the proposed
restrictions constitute a nearly
unprecedented assault on indi
vidual freedom. Clearly, the FDA
has overstepped its bounds, as it
lurches clumsily forward on its
anti-tobacco crusade, tromping
on the First Amendment of the
United States Constitution in the
Letters
Commissioners disobey Sunshine laws
It is time to clarify what open
ness of government meetings
means — The Sunshine Law —
and how it relates to closed meet
ings.
The open and public meeting
law was initiated to eliminate
closed meetings which engender
in the people a distrust of its offi
cials who are clothed with the
power to act in their name.
But the law does provide for
particular excluded (closed) pro-
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process.
The FDA claims its actions are
inspired by a desire to discour
age underage smoking. But this
explanation does not hold up
under even casual scrutiny.
Virtually everyone, including
the major tobacco companies,
agrees that minors should not
smoke. The major companies
have even launched a multi-mil
lion dollar advertising campaign
against underage smoking.
But controlling underage
smoking should be the responsi
bility of parents and educators
— not government agencies.
Studies indicate that the battle
against teen smoking is succeed
ing. Underage smoking has al
ready declined dramatically, par
ticularly among Black teenag
ers. According to a study pub
lished in the Journal of the Na
tional Cancer Institute on April
19,1995, the smoking rate among
Black teens dropped from 26.8
percent in 1976 to 4.4 percent in
1993. (During the same period,
smoking among white teens fell
from 28.8 percent to 22.9 per-
ceedings such as meetings to dis
cuss future acquisition of real es
tate and these meetings are sub
ject to the requirement for the
giving of notice to the public and
preparing the minutes of such a
meeting.
The disclosure of such minutes
may be delayed until such time as
the acquisition of the real estate
has been completed.
Further, any portion of the meet
ing not subject to any exception,
Closer Look
cent.)
Furthermore, other studies
have shown that there is no cor
relation whatsoever between
advertising and youthful smok
ing habits. To pretend that there
is, as the FDA is doing, is false,
misleading and ultimately un
fair.
Perhaps the FDA’s time would
be better spent investigating the
reasons that so many young
Bl acks are deciding not to smoke,
rather than attempting to bully
its way into control of an area
where it has heretofore had no
jurisdiction.
There are other reasons why
the FDA’s plan seems foolhardy.
Last year, Canada instituted a
law, called the Tobacco Products
Control Act, which severely re
stricted advertising and promo
tion of tobacco products in much
the same way the FDA envisions
doing in America. The Canadian
Supreme Court recently struck
down that law, finding that it
violated their constitution’s right
to free expression.
Given the similarities between
privilege, or confidentiality shall
be made public and the minutes of
such portion not subject to any
such exception shall be taken, re
corded and open to public inspec
tion.
The Richmond County Board of
Commissioners do not take min
utes at any portion of their closed
meetings and are in violation of
the sunshine law.
One woul d think that the Coun
ty Attorney Jim Wall’s function
the now invalid Canadian law
and the FDA’s proposal, it would
be wise for the FDA to rethink its
position to avoid both embarrass
ment and the exorbitant legal
fees that would result from a
protracted court battle with the
tobacco industry.
It seems unlikely that the FDA
could win such a fight. Still, the
prospect of government attempt
ing to take control of an industry
that offers a legal product to adult
Americans is disconcerting. But
if the FDA should accomplish its
goals, a dangerous precedent will
have been set, and the door will
have been opened for all sorts of
assaults on individual rights. The
American people will be the ulti
mate losers.
By waging an ill-conceived war
against the tobacco industry, the
FDA is wasting taxpayers’ mon
ey at a time when there is a great
need to halt governmental waste.
We urge you to write to your
legislators and let them know
you oppose FDA intervention in
the marketing and promotion of
tobacco products.
would be to advise the County
Commission of this egregious vio
lation, but not so. He must feel his
function is to advise the Commis
sion on how to circumvent the
law. When will our elected offi
cials let the sunshine in and dump
the “Mr. Temp” attorney and hire
a full-time qualified officer of the
court?
Davida L. Johnson
Augusta
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1996 marks tenth anniversary
of King Federal Holiday
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“Forces that threaten to negate
life must be challenged by cour
age, which is the power of life to
affirm itself in spite of life’s am
biguities. This requires the exer
cise of a creative will that enables
us to hew out a stone of hope from
a mountain of despair.”
— Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
1996 marks the tenth anniver
sary of the King Federal Holiday
which has served for a decade as a
time for Americans to reflect on
the principles of racial equality
and nonviolent social changes es
poused by Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr. The King Holiday, with the
exception of the celebration of the
New Year, is the only American
holiday observed, in some man
ner, by nations all over the world.
The King Holiday is the only hol
iday members of Congress have
crafted to make a difference in the
lives of every American, now and
for generations to come.
The University of Georgia, in
coordination with the Georgia
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722-9444
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Old Town Plaza
Across from Days Inn
737-6060
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3217 Wrightsboro Rd.
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Museum of Art, is proud to
present an exhibit and lecture,
“A Stone of Hope From a Moun
tain of Despair,” featuring UGA
art professor Stefanie Jackson.
Jackson’s art reflects multi-di
mensional African-American
imagery. Her work is influenced
by the teachings of Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. and the impact
of the civil rights movement in
our culture. Her work exempli
fies the challenge that Dr. King
shared in a speech to junior high
students in Philadelphia six
months before his assassination,
a speech which sets a standard
by which all can judge the worth
of their work:
“And when you discover what
you will be in your life, set out to
do it as if God Almighty called
you at this particular moment in
history to do it. Don’t just set out
to do a good job. Set out to do such
a good job that the living, the
dead or the unborn couldn’t do it
any better. If it falls your lot to be
a street sweeper, sweep streets
like Michelangelo painted pic
tures, sweep streets like Beethoven
composed music, sweep streets
like Leontyne Price sings before
the Metropolitan Opera. Sweep
streets like Shakespeare wrote
poetry. Sweep streets so well that
all the host of Heaven and Earth
will have to pause and say: Here
lived a great street sweeper who
swept his job well. If you can’t be
a pine at the top of the hill, be a
shrub in the valley. But be the
best little shrub on the side of the
hill. Be a bush if you can’t be a
tree. If you can’t be a highway,
just be a trail. If you can’t be a
sun, be a star. For it isn’t by size
that you win or fail. Be the best of
whatever you are. ”
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