Big Tobacco meet FDA
REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
This new and powerful measure is being celebrated as a major move against one of America’s greatest killers.
Over 400,000 deaths occur yearly in the U.S. as a result of tobacco consumption. Targeting consumers at a young age with child friendly advertising, the tobacco industry has cultivated generations of smokers whose addiction fuelled product loyalty is to the death. Most who smoke are vulnerable to the highly addictive properties of nicotine and will face an average seven year battle before winning the fight to quit for good. U.S. President Barack Obama is no exception. And now Obama’s white house has taken land mark action as the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Regulation Control Act passed by Congress has been signed into law.
The tobacco industry has continued to operate largely unfettered without any uniform government regulation. Now under the new law the Food and Drug Administration will exercise control over any tobacco products introduced onto the market and how those products are presented to the public. Claims of ‘light’ and ‘low tar’ must now be verified and approved by the FDA. Additionally, tobacco advertising and vending machine sales will be further restricted; larger warning labels placed directly on products will be implemented. The bill comes after over a decade-long campaign of congressional lobbying by health protection groups. This new and powerful measure is being celebrated as a major move against one of America’s greatest killers.
Conditions of the legislation will require tobacco companies to sponsor new FDA control units and front hefty fees. Philip Morris, the number one producer of tobacco products in the U.S., is the sole supporter of the Act within the industry. In recent years Philip Morris has demonstrated initiative to present itself as an ethical company, making efforts to support tobacco consumers attempting to quit and offering conversation starters for parents to talk to their kids about not smoking. Yet the steep million dollar registration fees imposed by the new bill can really only be afforded by the industry’s number one tobacco producer. As the competition is crippled, is the old crocodile smiling?
K Lee