Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act

Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act

Enacted by	the 91st United States Congress
Effective	April 1, 1970
Legislative history
Introduced in the 1964 as Smoking and Health: Report of the Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General of the United States by Luther Leonidas Terry on January 11, 1964 Signed into law by President Richard Nixon on April 1, 1970
Major amendments
Comprehensive Smoking Education Act

The Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act is a United States federal law, passed in 1969, designed to limit the practice of smoking. It required a stronger health warning on cigarette packages, saying "Warning: The Surgeon General Has Determined that Cigarette Smoking Is Dangerous to Your Health". The Act also banned cigarette advertisements on American radio and television.

The Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act was one of the major bills resulting from the 1964 report by the Surgeon General, Luther Leonidas Terry. The report found that lung cancer and chronic bronchitis are causally related to cigarette smoking. Congress previously passed the Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act in 1965 requiring that all cigarette packages sold in the United States carry a health warning. But after a recommendation by the Federal Trade Commission, the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act amended the 1965 law so that the warnings are made in the name of the Surgeon General.

One of the major advocates of the cigarette advertising ban was the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC argued that since the topic of smoking is controversial, numerous TV and radio stations continued to break the Fairness Doctrine when airing these commercials because they did not give equal time to the opposing viewpoint that smoking is dangerous.

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