June 22, 2009 -- A shift in power governing tobacco products took place on Monday, after U.S. President Barack Obama signed legislation granting the Food and Drug Administration the authority to regulate the tobacco industry.
It is an action Democrat and Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi was quick to chime in on.
Speaker Pelosi states, "All Americans have benefited from the oversight of the FDA on foods that we eat and medicines we take. Yet, despite the fact that tobacco is one of the deadliest products in America, the FDA has had no authority to regulate it. Today, this new law corrects that wrong.”
It’s called the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act:
• Gives FDA authority to regulate tobacco products and marketing;
• FDA will create a new Center for Tobacco Products to oversee the science-based regulation of tobacco products in the United States;
• Bans flavored cigarettes by October 2009;
• Forces tobacco firms and importers to submit information to the FDA about ingredients and additives in tobacco products;
• Places strict limits on tobacco advertising in publications with a significant teenage readership;
• FDA will now have to enforce a rule banning outdoor tobacco advertising within a thousand feet of schools or playgrounds;
• Bans the use of words like "mild" or "light" in ads that makes tobacco products seem safer.
• Ends all tobacco-brand sponsorship of sporting or entertainment events;
• Requires tobacco companies to disclose ingredients to the FDA (and the FDA can require changes in the ingredient list in the name of public health – BUT the FDA cannot reduce nicotine content to zero or ban a class of tobacco)
Of course – non-profit organizations such as the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association and the American Lung Association backed the passage of the bill into law.
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