ewsweek and Time Inc�s Time, Sports Illustrated and People have agreed to eliminate tobacco ads from copies distributed to grammar, junior high and high schools, according to reports. In 2003, the US attorneys general reached an agreement with several major tobacco companies to eliminate their ads from special "classroom" editions distributed to schools. Tobacco firms arranged for "selective binding" agreements with publishers to ensure their ads would not appear in issues distributed in classrooms.

Many school libraries subscribe to the regular editions of the magazines, rather than the classroom versions. So children reading the library editions remain exposed to tobacco ads. A New York State Department of Health survey of 223 New York middle and high schools found that more than 70 per cent of school libraries had copies of the four magazines with tobacco advertising. The new agreement ensures that tobacco ads will also be eliminated from regular issues distributed to school libraries.... more