Until now, cigarettes and other forms of tobacco have been among the least regulated consumer products in the United States—receiving less attention from federal regulators than pet food or cosmetics—even though they eventually kill about half of the people who use them regularly.
Under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, the FDA cannot outlaw smoking or ban nicotine, nor can the agency control or restrict the behavior of smokers. Instead, the new law empowers the FDA to regulate chemical additives and reduce the nicotine content in tobacco products. According to The New York Times, health advocates are predicting that new FDA standards could eventually reduce some of the 60 carcinogens and 4,000 toxins in cigarette smoke "or make it taste so bad it deters users."
The law also makes it illegal to advertise tobacco products within 1,000 feet of schools and playgrounds, mandates replacing colorful ads and store displays with black-and-white text, outlaws the use of words such as “light” and “low tar” to describe cigarettes, requires manufacturers to increase the size of the health warnings on tobacco packaging, and bans most tobacco flavorings (except Menthol) that appeal to first-time smokers. (For more information about the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, see my previous blog post or the story in today’s New York Times.)
Smoking in the United States has gradually declined since 1964, when the U.S. Surgeon General issued the first health warning about the dangers of smoking, but about one in five Americans still smoke. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that over the next decade the new law will reduce smoking among young people by 11 percent and cut adult smoking by 2 percent, on top of other reductions achieved through higher taxes, indoor smoking bans, and other means.
The Altria Group, the largest tobacco company in the United States, publicly supported the legislation, arguably to avoid even tougher restrictions or an outright ban on smoking, but the new law may still face some hurdles. The Association of National Advertisers claims that the law’s advertising restrictions violate First Amendment protections for commercial speech, which is likely to lead to a court challenge.
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