FDA should be authorized to regulate tobacco: Report

Institute of Medicine committee report released yesterday proposes the Congress to transfer the power to regulate sale of tobacco products, including ban on indoor smoking and raising taxes, to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

A 14-member panel of the advisory body prepared a report titled “"Ending the Tobacco Problem: A Blueprint for the Nation” in which they made recommendations to curb smoking rates and control spreading of this addictive habit among youth.

They said that the Congress should give all powers to regulate the marketing, packaging and sale of tobacco products so that they’re able to monitor the continuous deliberate increasing levels of nicotine in the cigarettes that make them more addictive, as revealed by investigations by a Massachusetts Department of Public Health study. According to the panel, banning all types of indoor smoking like in restaurants and malls and raising excise taxes on cigarettes by at least $2 per pack shall certainly help to reduce the level of smokers to a certain extent.

The committee also suggested various ways of preventing the youth to get their hands on the cigarettes easily by putting prohibitions on marketing to youth near schools, steep increase in cigarette taxes, stopping online sale and banning fruit or candy flavored cigarettes.

In the last four decades, no doubt, the percentage of smokers has been reduced to almost half i.e. 21% today as compared to 42% in 1965, but the position hasn’t bettered after that. A decreasing trend has also been noticed in the number of high school senior smokers as 23% rate in 1999 and 17% in 1992 declined to 12% in 2006.

But despite the above statistics 440,000 tobacco related deaths are reported every year and around $89 billion is spent on health costs of smokers.

Richard J. Bonnie, a University of Virginia law professor who led the panel of 14 experts provided an insight into the grave tobacco problem. He said, "There are still 45 million cigarette smokers and another 9.7 million users of other tobacco products. Most of them regret having taken up the habit and struggle to quit. The nation's goal should be to reduce tobacco use so substantially that it is no longer a significant public health problem."

A Legislation regarding the same has been introduced by Congress which will be the subject of their next hearing. It would put FDA in a position to exercise all such powers given to it which would also include, requiring a strong picture warnings on every cigarette pack with black and white display, scientific research of cigarettes claiming to be “light” or “low tar” and introducing a license to authorize and restrict the sale of tobacco. This step is speculated to reduce the present figure of 21% smokers to 10% by 2025 i.e. a reduction of 11 million potential deaths by smoking.

Massachusetts Senator Edward M. Kennedy, a Democrat who is the lead sponsor of the bill, supported the legislation and said, "As the report makes clear, broad FDA authority over all aspects of the production and advertising of cigarettes and other tobacco products is indispensable for preventing tobacco-related addiction diseases and death. It's disgraceful that year after year, Congress has bowed to the tobacco lobby and refused to act. Hopefully the IOM's powerful call to action will be the irresistible force that finally compels the Senate and House to act."

The manufacturer of Marlboro cigarettes, Philip Morris USA has supported the move saying that such a step will hopefully restrain the cigarette manufacturers to reconsider the harmful aspects of their products. He said he expects the legislation to be clear and effective with regard to standard setting in the tobacco industry in US. But he also opposed the increase in excise taxes, which have risen 73 times since 2000, as according to him it gives way to smuggling and access to children through the path of internet. He also proposed that the state should spend more money from the 1988 tobacco settlement to smoking cessation and youth smoking prevention.

"The IOM's recommended actions to combat youth smoking could more quickly be addressed by tapping into this existing funding source -- rather than attempting to create a new one," said Howard Willard, an executive vice president of Philip Morris USA.

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. opposed the legislation as according to him the limited advertising opportunities would strengthen its competitors’ position.

The US Smokeless company also showed its dissatisfaction over the findings of the committee report as according it the report does not distinguish between the smokeless tobacco products and cigarettes.

The Institute of Medicine was chartered by the National Academy of Sciences in 1970 with the objective to provide analysis of important health and environmental issues to the government to improve the “health of the American people and people of the world”

The institute had issued another report on tobacco in 1994 titled “Growing Up Tobacco Free: Preventing Nicotine Addiction in Children and Youths”.

All the published reports of this institute are also updated on the National Academy Press website, www.nap.edu.