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In 1992 Congress
passed section 1926 of the Public Health Service Act,
(known as the Synar Amendment), that prohibits the sale
or distribution of tobacco products to minors. Then
in 1996, the FDA determined that nicotine is a drug
and that cigaretees and smokeless toacco are drug delivery
ssytems. This finding resulted in the passage of a number
of restrictions on cigarette and smokeless tobacco sales
and advertising that were in effect from February 1997
through March 21, 2000.
On March 21, 2000 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that
the FDA did not have the authority to regulate tobacco.
At that time all FDA-specific acitivities (primarily
FDA-funded retail compliance checks) ceased.
It
is important to note that the U.S. Supreme Court ruling
does not impact existing Utah state laws that prohibit
the illegal sell of tobacco to persons under 19 years
of age.
Currently
the Synar Amendment is the primary Federal regulation
oriented towards reducing youth access to tobacco.
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