FDA Regulation of Tobacco Closer to Becoming Reality

The US Senate passed a bill giving the FDA authority over tobacco products this Wednesday. Some tobacco control advocates are wrestling with this bill because its authors have seemingly struck a deal with Philip Morris, the largest tobacco company in the US (makers of Marlboro). But regardless of this supposed "treaty," the FDA could potentially alter how cigarettes are manufactured and advertised in the US.

Highlights of the bill include:

• Marketing and advertising. It bans the words "mild," "lite" and "low tar" on cigarette packages. It will restrict magazine advertising to plain tombstone ads, so-called because they are black and white print rectangles.
• It prohibits marketers of smokeless-tobacco brands from making any suggestion that their products are healthier than cigarettes.
• Cigarette packages will have to devote 50% of both sides to safety warnings. (The House version only requires 30%)
• Flavored cigarettes, often marketed to children, would more than likely be completely prohibited.
• One critical provision will undo a 40-year-old prohibition against state regulation of tobacco marketing. It will let states pass their own restrictions, such as "time, place and manner" limits on the way cigarettes are sold at convenience stores and gas stations.

A Wall Street Journal article summarizes much of the details of this historic legislation. The US House passed a similar bill in April.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124459144999600073.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

For additional information, visit the Smoke-Free Wisconsin blog (link on this page)