Obama, citing own battle, signs new tobacco law

WASHINGTON — Citing his own experience as a teenage smoker, President Obama on Monday predicted a tough new law giving the government expanded authority to crack down on cigarette marketers will help young people make the choice not to take up the habit he has struggled with for years.

As he signed the measure into law in a Rose Garden ceremony this afternoon, Obama said it would help stem the "constant and insidious barrage of advertising" that every year draws millions of teenagers into a lifelong struggle to quit.

"I know," Obama said. "I was one of those teenagers, and so I know how difficult it can be to break this habit when it's been with you for a long time."

The new law gives sweeping power to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate tobacco products. And it directly bans tobacco companies from using youth-oriented gimmicks such as adding candy, fruit and spice flavors to cigarettes or using tobacco-product logos and brand names in sponsoring athletic and entertainment events.

Nearly a quarter of high-school students in the United States smoke cigarettes, according to the National Institutes of Health. And people who start smoking before the age of 21 have the hardest time quitting, the agency reports. About 30 percent of youth smokers will die early from a smoking-related disease.

Flanked by lawmakers who have fought tobacco companies for years, Obama declared his signature on the bill represented a significant defeat for those who tried to hook young customers.

"Today," Obama said, "change has come to Washington."

For Obama personally, change is more elusive. He gave up cigarettes as part of a deal with his wife, Michelle Obama, who wanted him to quit before he took on the rigors of a presidential campaign. He swore off cigarettes and started chewing Nicorette gum.

In recent weeks, though, aides to the president have tacitly acknowledged the president's nicotine habit isn't a thing of the past.