A bipartisan group led by Senators John Cornyn of Texas and Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and U.S. Representatives Henry Waxman of California and Tom Davis of Virginia hope to give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the power to regulate tobacco.
This joint effort from the House and Senate is supported by the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, and many more organizations around the country. If this legislation is approved, here’s some idea of what would change.
- The 1996 FDA Rule on youth access to tobacco and tobacco advertising would return. This rule bans tobacco advertising within one thousand feet of schools and playgrounds, restricts tobacco sponsorship on sports and entertainment events, and restricts cigarette vending machines to adult-only facilities.
- The FDA would gain the authority to restrict tobacco marketing, if such restrictions would be appropriate for the general public (both smokers and non-smokers).
- Tobacco companies would have to provide a detailed list of ingredients for each product distributed by each brand. The FDA would be notified of any changes to the product, and can publish brand-specific lists of harmful and potentially harmful ingredients.
- The FDA would gain the authority to require changes to tobacco products to reduce harmful ingredients or limit the amount of nicotine.
- There would be a ban on fruit or candy flavored cigarettes.
- There would be a ban on terms like “light”, “mild”, and “low” on labels and in advertising.
- The FDA would strictly regulate products that claim to be a “reduced harm” tobacco product. Any product making such a claim must prove themselves to the FDA.
- Cigarette labels will be required to have bigger and more specific health warnings. Advertisements must also use 20% of their space on warnings.
- Individual states would regain the right to address the time, placement, and manner of cigarette advertising (which was restricted by the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act).
Under the new legislation, individual states would not be stopped from enacting other tobacco control laws, like increase tobacco excise taxes, restrict youth access to tobacco products, or pass laws to create smoke-free workplaces.