[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 20 (Tuesday, March 1, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 1, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
               PREVENTING TOBACCO USE AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE

  (Mr. MEEHAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Speaker, today the tobacco industry will lose more 
than 1,100 customers. That is how many smokers will kick the habit or 
die. What are the cigarette companies going to do about it? Meet Joe 
and Josephine Camel. Everything that is wrong with advertising, they 
are guilty of.
  Since the Joe Camel advertising campaign began in 1987, Camel has 
increased its annual sales of cigarettes to children by $476 million. 
Studies have shown children can link old Joe Camel to cigarettes as 
quickly as they connect Mickey Mouse to Disney.
  The tobacco industry devotes $4 billion a year to marketing 
cigarettes to young people. The advertising and promotions help 
persuade more than 1 million Americans under the age of 18 to start 
smoking each year. Smoking is a personal decision, but it is a decision 
for adults to make.
  Last week, Surgeon General Dr. Elders released her report on 
``Preventing Tobacco Use Among Young People.'' I commend her efforts to 
put a halt to this epidemic, and I urge my colleagues to join in the 
fight to put Joe Camel out of a job.

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