The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday banned cigarettes with fruit, candy or clove flavors that lure teenagers into smoking. "Almost 90 percent of adult smokers start smoking as teenagers. These flavored cigarettes are a gateway for many children and young adults to become regular smokers," said Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg, the FDA commissioner.  She also noted that 17-year-old smokers are three times as likely to use flavored cigarettes as smokers older than 25.  President Obama last June signed the legislation allowing the FDA to regulate tobacco. “This bill is a very good step forward,” Senator Bernie Sanders said at the time. “Our goal has got to be for these companies to stop pushing their dangerous and addictive product onto our people, especially our kids. Our goal has got to be to come up with programs to make it as easy as possible for people to get off of their addiction,” added Sanders, a member of the Senate health committee.

The bill is a major milestone in the campaign to stop smoking that began with a landmark 1964 surgeon general's warning that smoking causes lung cancer and includes a 1998 lawsuit settlement in which tobacco companies pledged $206 billion to help fund anti-tobacco campaigns. Under the measure, the Food and Drug Administration was given authority to regulate how cigarettes and other tobacco products are made and sold to some 40 million smokers. Supporters say smoking prevention measures could millions of dollars in health care costs.

The bill would allow the FDA to require changes to nicotine yields and other chemicals in cigarettes and other tobacco products, although it could not ban nicotine. It would require tobacco companies to provide detailed lists of ingredients and any changes in those ingredients.

The FDA is now considering regulations on menthol cigarettes and other flavored tobacco products.

To watch the senator discuss the tobacco legislation, click here.

Parents and others who want to report continued sales of flavored cigarettes may call an FDA hotline at 1 (877)   287-1373) or on go online to www.fda.gov/flavoredtobacco