FDA Regulation of Tobacco will Aid in War Against Smoking
Written by Ann Pietrangelo on June 16th, 2009 in Health Care Policy, In The News, Linked Articles.
In a decisive victory in the war against smoking last week, both the House and the Senate voted by wide margins to give the FDA regulatory control over nicotine in cigarettes, clearing the way for an enthusiastic President Obama’s signature.
It is estimated that 3,500 young people smoke their first cigarette each day. Smoking causes an estimated 400,000 deaths in the United States annually and costs $100 billion in health care costs, amazing statistics when you consider it has been 45 years since the surgeon general’s warning that smoking causes lung cancer.
Smoking is a massive drain on health — and health care costs — no small matter given today’s health care reform debate and talk of controlling costs.
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June 17th, 2009 at 12:34 am
This is very good news, it’s long past time for this. It’s pretty unbelievable that something well known to cause harm was under so little regulation before. The bill requires tobacco companies to disclose the contents of tobacco products, as well as changes in products and research about their health effects … I had assumed that they had to do this all along. Glad to see that knowledge and information now has the upper hand against company propaganda. It also bans terms such as “light” and “low-tar” in advertising that mislead consumers into believing that certain cigarettes are safer.