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Obama signs tobacco bill into law
US President Barack Obama has signed into law America's strongest anti-smoking measure ever, saying it will save lives.
Hailed as a milestone in the history of tobacco regulation, the bill was passed by Congress earlier this month.
About one in five Americans smoke and some 440,000 die each year of smoking-related illnesses.
US TOBACCO MILESTONES
1964: Surgeon general's report alerts many Americans to the health risks of smoking - and its links to lung cancer - for the first time
1971: Tobacco advertising banned on TV and radio
1988: Surgeon general reports nicotine is an addictive drug
1988: Smoking banned on US domestic flights under two hours; later extended but only applied to all domestic flights in 1998
1990s: FDA tries to regulate nicotine as a drug, but Supreme Court strikes this effort down in 2000, saying it requires congressional backing
2009: FDA gets strong powers to regulate the content and marketing of tobacco products