AARC Urges Support for FDA Tobacco Legislation

February 27, 2007

Bipartisan bills introduced into both the House and Senate on Feb. 15 may finally mean the end to the unregulated manufacture, sale, and marketing of cigarettes and other tobacco products.

H.R. 1108 and S. 625 both call on Congress to provide the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with the authority to regulate tobacco products.

“The AARC has long advocated for FDA regulation of tobacco products, through our partnership with other leading health organizations belonging to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids,” says Cheryl West, AARC director of government affairs. “If Congress responds by passing this groundbreaking legislation, we’ll be one big step closer to preventing many of the millions of premature deaths that occur each year due to tobacco.”

The House bill was introduced by Reps. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Tom Davis (R-VA). The Senate bill came from Sens. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and John Cornyn (R-TX). The Senate bill had 29 co-sponsors upon its introduction, and the House bill has already garnered 100.

Both bills would give the FDA the authority to:

• Restrict tobacco advertising and promotions, especially to children.
• Stop illegal sales of tobacco products to children.
• Ban candy-flavored cigarettes, which clearly are starter products for young new smokers. 
• Require changes in tobacco products, such as the removal of harmful ingredients or the reduction of nicotine levels.
• Prohibit health claims about so-called “reduced risk” products that are not scientifically proven or that would discourage current tobacco users from quitting or encourage new users to start.
• Require tobacco companies to disclose the contents of tobacco products, changes to their products, and research about the health effects of their products. 
• Require larger and more informative health warnings on tobacco products.
• Prohibit terms such as “light,” “mild,” and “low-tar” that have mislead consumers into believing that certain cigarettes are safer than others.

In a statement issued last week, Sen. Kennedy urged Congress to act quickly to pass the legislation. “Congress cannot in good conscience allow the federal agency most responsible for protecting the public health to remain powerless to deal with the enormous risks of tobacco, the most deadly of all consumer products,” he said. “Health experts believe this legislation is the most important action Congress could take to protect children from this deadly addiction.” 

West says AARC members can play a big role in promoting the legislation by writing their members of Congress in support of the bills. “As health professionals who see the damage tobacco does every day on the job, respiratory therapists have the potential to make a huge impact on legislators,” she says. “We encourage all our members to visit our Capitol Connection web site and use the tools there to e-mail their members of Congress, urging them to vote ‘yes’ on this vital public health legislation.”

As the ventilator and diaphragm work with the same signal, the coupling between the two is virtually instantaneous.