Position Papers
American College of Chest Physicians Position Paper
Provide FDA With Meaningful Authority To Regulate Tobacco
Congress must grant FDA jurisdiction over tobacco
The American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) urges Congress to take appropriate steps to grant the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) meaningful authority to regulate tobacco.
The FDA is the only government agency that can provide comprehensive oversight and regulation of all aspects of tobacco production, including ingredient disclosure, elimination of harmful ingredients, and manipulation of nicotine. It is important to note that as a free-standing product, nicotine is regulated by the FDA as a drug; but when it exists as a component of a tobacco product, it is not.
It is important that the FDA be granted the same level of regulatory authority over tobacco products as it has to regulate pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and food products.
Legislation must create meaningful national policy to protect children from tobacco products. During the 108th Congress, the ACCP asks that legislators cosponsor and support the reintroduction of three bills from the 107th Congress: H.R.1097, The FDA Tobacco Authority Amendments Act (commonly known as Ganske Dingell Waxman); S.2626, the Youth Smoking Prevention and Public Health Protection Act (commonly known as the DeWine – Kennedy bill); and S.247, the "Kids Deserve Freedom from Tobacco Act of 2001" (Senate companion to H.R.1097).
The ACCP believes any new legislation must include child protection elements of the former FDA Rule promulgated under the direction of then FDA Commissioner David Kessler. This Rule was subsequently struck down by the US Supreme Court. Any legislation being considered by Congress must, at a minimum, include these elements. Please see the background below for additional details.
The ACCP opposes legislation that creates the illusion of providing the FDA with meaningful regulatory authority over tobacco. During the 107th Congress the ACCP opposed legislation known in the House and Senate as the National Youth Smoking Reduction Act and will continue to oppose these and similarly designed pieces of legislation.
Background
In March 2000, the US Supreme Court ruled that the FDA did not have the legal authority to regulate tobacco products. This Supreme Court decision not only placed the responsibility back with Congress to pass legislation giving the FDA this authority, but also eliminated the FDA’s narrowly focused 1996 assertion that it had jurisdiction to prevent and reduce tobacco use by children.
The Court’s decision eliminating the FDA Rule to prevent and reduce tobacco use by children also eliminated FDA regulations requiring:
- the nationwide minimum legal age for purchase of tobacco products be 18 years of age
- retailers check of photo identification before selling tobacco products to any person under the age of 27
Now no other federal agency reviews the health and safety of tobacco as a product. No federal agency has the jurisdiction to require the tobacco industry to disclose the ingredients in cigarettes that have been proven to cause cancer and other life-threatening diseases. No other federal agency can develop meaningful programs to reduce youth smoking.
Even with Attorneys General from 46 states signing the Master Settlement Agreement, tobacco consumption has risen to a 19 year high among children. Unless something is done, over “five million kids alive today will ultimately die prematurely from smoking.”
Unless Congress passes legislation, millions of Americans will lose their health to the deadly effects of tobacco use.
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