December 2015
Last week, Enid Neptune, MD, and Al Munzer, MD, members of the ATS Tobacco Action Committee, met with White House staff to urge the Administration to move forward with strong U.S. Food and Drug Administration rules to regulate all tobacco products, including cigars and e-cigarettes.
In 2009, Congress passed legislation giving FDA authority to regulate cigarettes. The legislation also gave the FDA the ability to express its authority over other tobacco products, including cigars and e-cigarettes. In 2014, the FDA proposed rule to regulate all tobacco products. Nearly a year has passed since then, but it appears that the Administration is closer to issuing a rule to regulate all tobacco products.
During the meeting, Drs. Neptune and Munzer focused on the health risks posed by cigars products, with particular emphasis on candy-flavored cigar products. Dr. Munzer summarized the extensive literature on the health effects of cigar use, and Dr. Neptune shared that an estimated 1.2 million high school students and 220,000 middle school students use cigars.
The meeting re-emphasized the ATS's support for effective regulation of all tobacco products, including cigars and e-cigarettes. Essential components of effective regulation include:
- Banning of sales to minors
- Product registration
- Collection of user fees
- Regulation of manufacturing processes
- Disclosure of product ingredients
- Warning labels on all tobacco products
- Ban on internet sales
- Ban of tobacco industry sponsorship of cultural events
- Ban of tobacco product merchandizing
- Ban on candy or other sweetened flavored tobacco products
- Ban on advertising to targeted to minor
The FDA is expected to issue a final rule regulating all tobacco products in the near future.
