Senate Passes Family Smoking Prevention And Tobacco Control Act

In a move that will fundamentally redefine the way the United States regulates tobacco, the Senate passed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (H.R. 1256) by a vote of 79 to 17. This legislation grants the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority to regulate the marketing of tobacco products, specifically marketing designed to mislead consumers or recruit underage smokers.

“It is time that attention is drawn to the long time, intentional targeting of children by the tobacco industry,” said John Heffner, M.D., past president of the ATS. “We have too long tolerated the industry’s efforts to cultivate smokers at a young and vulnerable age to guarantee profit for tobacco producers.”

The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act grants the FDA the tools to combat these practices in the tobacco industry and will immediately reduce the ability of tobacco companies to recruit new smokers and limit the devastation caused by tobacco-related disease.

“Throughout my career, I have treated many hundreds of patients who have been devastated by illnesses caused by and related to tobacco addiction. I have also watched countless family members suffer as a result of these illnesses,” said ATS president, J. Randall Curtis, M.D. “This legislation offers us an unprecedented opportunity to stop tobacco addiction before it starts by allowing the FDA to ensure that tobacco products are not marketed to children and that the tobacco industry is required to advertise these products honestly.”

to read the rest of this article in Medical News Today - click here