U.S. Senate passes strong bill with anti-tobacco measures
U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller applauded last week’s passage of the Family Smoking Prevention & Tobacco Control Act in the
U. S. Senate. The bill will give the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to regulate tobacco products, including authorizing removal of hazardous ingredients and prohibiting tobacco advertising campaigns targeting children.
“Too many children are taking up smoking and suffering from the long term effects of tobacco use,” Rockefeller said. “We need to protect our young people and prevent tobacco use before it becomes a habit that is hard to break and threatens their health.”
Rockefeller called figures from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids “staggering.”
“Over 3.5 million American high-school students smoke and kids consume over 800 million packs of cigarettes a year,” he said.
Rockefeller has been a longtime supporter of stronger regulations to reduce the number of young smokers. According to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, every day more than 3,500 kids try their first cigarette, and more than 1,000 of those kids will become regular smokers, which can lead to serious health conditions.
More than 8.6 million people in the United States suffer from smoking-related illnesses, and tobacco-related health care costs have reached $96 billion annually.
In West Virginia, 27.6% of high school students smoke cigarettes and 27% of high school males use smokeless tobacco.
The Family Smoking Prevention & Tobacco Control Act would:
—Authorize the FDA to restrict tobacco advertising to stop marketing practices that target children and mislead the public.
—Prevent sale of tobacco products to youth by providing FDA with the authority to limit tobacco sales to face-to-face transactions, in which the age of the purchaser is verifiable.
—Require stronger warning labels for tobacco packages and advertising. The FDA would have the authority to update the warning labels regularly to ensure a strong impact.
—Prevent misrepresentation by tobacco manufacturers of the addictiveness of nicotine in their products. Industry documents demonstrate that tobacco manufacturers knew their products were addictive, relied on this addictive nature in their marketing and chemically manipulated the nicotine in their products to make them even more addictive. The legislation gives FDA the authority to prevent such misrepresentations in the future.
—Authorize removal of hazardous ingredients to ensure that the inherent risk of using tobacco products is not unnecessarily increased. The bill would also provide FDA with the authority to help those who are addicted overcome their addiction, and make tobacco products less toxic to those who are unable or unwilling to quit.
—Set standards for so-called “reduced risk” products by requiring manufacturers to submit the products for FDA analysis before making such claims. Statements by tobacco company executives indicate development of what they believe to be “reduced risk” is on the horizon.
—Ensure that tobacco companies, not taxpayers, bear the cost of regulation by establishing a user fee on tobacco manufacturers and importers, based on their market share.
