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Apr 1, 2009 02:45 PM | 7
House members are expected to approve a bill tonight that would authorize the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate cigarettes and other tobacco products.
The bill, introduced by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), would require the FDA to approve any new tobacco products before they're marketed, and would ban artificial and natural flavoring of cigarettes, other than menthol and tobacco. Critics say candy and fruit-flavored cigarettes were designed to appeal to kids, and the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement between the tobacco industry and 46 state attorneys general barred companies from marketing them with an eye toward getting minors hooked on smokes despite laws that prohibit their sale to anyone under 18.
The legislation wouldn’t, however, allow the FDA to ban cigarettes, cigars, tobacco or smokeless tobacco products. It also wouldn’t allow the agency to require manufacturers to reduce their products' nicotine levels to zero.
The measure has 178 co-sponsors and President Obama, who's struggled with his own smoking habit, supports it, Reuters reports. The Senate passed a similar measure five years ago.
Critics have complained that the bill isn’t stringent enough, noting that menthol cigarettes are disproportionately popular among African Americans. They also say that Philip Morris, the only tobacco manufacturer backing the legislation, would secure its market dominance if the bill passes because the FDA probably wouldn’t approve any new tobacco products, according to the New York Times.
To execute its mandate under the measure, the FDA would have to set up a Center for Tobacco Products, funded, according to the Times, by up to $712 million a year from the tobacco industry. FDA observers are speculating that President Obama's nominee to head up the FDA, Margaret "Peggy" Hamburg, will oversee food and tobacco regulation and her deputy, Joshua Sharfstein, will manage drugs, biotech and medical devices. Hamburg is awaiting Senate confirmation.
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7 Comments
Add CommentJust what exactly will it take to "ban" tobacco, the bigger question is what would be easier: Ban Tobacco or Legalize all drugs?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBAN ALCOHOL & ALL DRUGS & LEAVE CIGS. ALONE THEY HELP FROM TAX SALES. HOPE OBAMA WANTS A CIG. SO BAD HE HAS ALSO OF PROBLEMS FROM NOT SMOKEING. COWARD HE SMOKES ON TV NOW SQUEELS BAN ARE RAISES THE PRICE SO HIGH WHERE RICH FOLS LIKE HIM CAN SMOKE. GO TO A DR. HE SCREAMS DONT SMOKE GO AROUND IN THE BACK SEE WHO ALL IS SMOKEING. i RECENTLY QUIT FOR -4- MONTHS WANTED ONE EVER DAY WORSE.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSounds like the above commenter needs to get outside for a fix! I recently quit smoking and have been a non-smoker for 6 months now with no problems and no desire to go back. I smoked from age 15 to age 28 and I probably didn't realize the extent of my addiction until about 23 years old when I tried to quit for the first time. At that point I wished for a ban, and welcomed bans in my favorite hang out spots. I loved smoking. I'm sure I would still love it had I not found a good way out (Alan Carr's "Quit Smoking the Easy Way"). Even when I was a smoker, I secretly wished it would get banned. The hardest part of quitting... going to a gas station. The one place in every convenience store you have to go, the cashier counter, is where all the cigarettes stare you in the face. I hope they do what they did in Canada and cover them up like porn mags. OK sorry I didn't intend on going into a rant here.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHere is more information on the Philip Morris Supreme Court decision: http://www.newsinferno.com/archives/5392#more-5392
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt makes sense considering how much tax money we are paying in medicare expenses for people that have been slowly killing themselves for decades with this addiction.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSeveral medical studies show smoking actually saves a society money regarding health care. A large Canadian study, and one published in the New England Journal of Medicine show this. Smokers die sooner, thus less health care dollars are actually spent on them. The tax is stupid, it will put cigar companies out or business, and it won't end up paying for Jack S. Henry Waxman is a fool.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI hope this is also a first step towards regulation of other "herbal" products whose sellers are currently free to make baseless claims.
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