Kessler also said that young children know tobacco brands even if they don't smoke.

"Kids as young as three to six years old recognize Joe Camel as easily as Ronald McDonald," Kessler said.

Although the FDA is looking at its role in controlling tobacco, Kessler does not suggest a ban.

"The FDA has been looking at tobacco as a drug for the past year. Nicotine is an addictive substance, and the marketplace is sustained by addiction," Kessler said. "A ban is just not feasible."

The FDA is also concerned about the ease with which teens can obtain cigarettes.

"In 1990, the National Cancer Institute found that eight of 10 ninth graders said it would be easy to buy their own cigarettes," Kessler said. "It has been estimated that 255 million packs are sold illegally to minors every year."

Kessler said that people are generally impatient when it comes to answers to health questions, but the hooked smokers of today may not be the best focal point.

"To succeed, we must fix our gaze beyond today's adults," Kessler said. "Nicotine addiction could go the way of smallpox or polio."

Kessler did point to an unusual trend in the tendency of one group of young people to smoke.

"Over the past few years, the number of African-American high school seniors who smoke has plummeted from 23 to five percent, with white students stagnating at 20 percent," Kessler said. "In a National Cancer Institute study, it was found that African American students did not think it was `cool to smoke."