Some of President Clinton’s recently proposed regulations aimed at curbing underage smoking appear to be misdirected.

In his attempt to crackdown on tobacco company’s marketing practices, Clinton has suggested strict monitoring of their advertising campaigns. Unfortunately, however, it seems as if these regulations would do little to prevent youths from smoking.

A large part of Clinton’s plan centers around prohibiting advertising at sporting events, on sporting apparel, and in publications that reach a large number of children. Ads would even be limited to black and white text only; no color or pictures would be allowed.

While tobacco companies are guilty of attempting to entice underage children to smoke, advertising isn’t the primary reason why young people take up smoking; they smoke not because of flashy advertising, but by watching their parents, idols and heroes light up for a fix.

Before mandatorily restricting how and where tobacco ads are placed, Clinton should assess whether they really influence anything, other than a present smoker’s choice of brand.