Tobacco Control Act - One year later

The FDA recently released a rather ominous document to the world touting the advances and accomplishments of the Tobacco Control Act.  Of course they have a very positive slant on the last year but if you break it down, have they really accomplished anything positive?  You can view the entire press release at this location: http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm216406.htm.  I encourage you to read it and follow along as we discuss these 'accomplishments' further.

According to the FDA and the current administration, one of the primary aims of the Tobacco Control Act (I will henceforth shorten this to TCA) is to "regulate tobacco products, with a special emphasis on preventing their use by children and youth and reducing the impact of tobacco on public health."  The FDA proudly states that thanks to the TCA they now have "...rules that limit the sale, distribution, and marketing of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco to protect the health of children and adolescents..." that are legally enforceable.  We already had very clear and concise laws restricting the sale of tobacco to minors and we had removed all forms of tobacco advertising from television, toy stores and hamburger stands.  Of course we all remember the battle to remove tobacco advertising from Saturday morning cartoons.  I for one am glad that I no longer have to worry about children being subjected to tobacco advertising while being brainwashed by the likes of Captain Planet.

In reality, the accomplishment here was to marginalize smokers into a category of subhuman that is only slightly above that of terrorist.  The active indoctrination by the anti-smokers of our children in schools has created a youth corp of anti-smoking activists who feel justified in disrespecting adults in their admonishments against smoking.  The obvious parallel to a certain historical brown shirted youth movement of many years ago is eerie.

In the fourth paragraph of the press release, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is quoted as saying “The past year has seen the initiation of the scientific and regulatory foundation for the regulation of tobacco products. The Department of Health and Human Services will continue to work deliberately toward our goals for a healthier America.”  The last time I checked there were a number of scientific sources that disputed the science of the FDA such as The Rest of The Story (http://tobaccoanalysis.blogspot.com/) and Science Blogs (http://scienceblogs.com/purepedantry/2007/11/the_price_of_exaggeration_exhi.php) if you doubt me on this.  Some scientists that are against smoking have even come out questioning the 'scientific' realities postulated by the FDA and anti-smoking zealots.  One of the most powerful sources of information on this subject is the blog of Joe Jackson, http://www.joejackson.com/smoking.php.  So we are left with the 'regulatory foundation' as the legacy of the TCA.

Recently a number of issues clouding the reliability of the FDA regulatory process have come to light including the exposure of the involvement of pharmaceutical companies on the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee.  It was recently disclosed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and the Center for Regulatory Effectiveness that the TPSAC board has some very strong ties to smoking cessation products from which they derive significant income. Dr. Neal Benowitz and Jack E. Henninfield are members of the TSAC board and both have financial and personal interests in smoking cessation products that could legitimately raise questions of impropriety.  However, the good Dr. Benowitz does not agree,

“I really don't see any conflict,” Dr. Benowitz said Monday. “My involvement with pharmaceutical companies is aimed at reducing the risk of smoking, quitting smoking. The aim of the committee is also to reduce the adverse health consequences of tobacco use.”

So with all due respect to the FDA, as a citizen and a legal user of legal tobacco products, I see no joy in the 'accomplishments' of the last year.

For more on the FDA and the Tobacco Control Act visit Cigar Rights of America at cigarrights.org .

To view the CRA  Alert concerning the FDA and the anniversary of the Tobacco Control Act - HERE!