American Notes CIGARETTES

The cigarette-machine industry may be going up in smoke. Last week Pittsburgh and New York City weighed in with two of the latest proposals to limit the use of the automatic vendors. In order to prevent access by children, Pittsburgh Mayor Sophie Masloff signed a new ordinance requiring that cigarette machines use tokens that will be sold only to adults. Meanwhile, the New York city council health committee recommended that the devices be banned from most public places, including such businesses as self-service laundries, gas stations and fast-food restaurants.

The current move against cigarette machines began last year in White Bear Lake, Minn., which adopted a ban that was quickly copied by other communities. The new flurry of laws could speed the demise of what is an ailing industry: in the early 1970s, machines accounted for 22% of cigarette sales. Today the figure is a mere 3.5%.