Land, others call for FDA tobacco regulations

WASHINGTON — Congress should act to bring tobacco products under the regulation of the federal government and thereby protect the health of Americans, Southern Baptist ethicist Richard Land and other religious leaders said April 5. Speaking at a Capitol Hill news conference, Land and the others urged Congress to approve legislation that would give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority to control the manufacture, promotion and sale of such products as cigarettes and chewing tobacco.

Land and other speakers cited numerous statistics to demonstrate the harmful effects of tobacco in this country:

• 1,200 people a day and 438,000 a year die from cigarette smoking or second-hand smoke.
• The costs in health care and lost productivity total more than $180 billion a year.
• 4,000 children under 18 try smoking for the first time daily.
• 90 percent of adult smokers start the practice by age 18.

The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act would empower the FDA to regulate the content of tobacco products, prohibit candy-flavored cigarettes, crack down on tobacco sales to underage children and limit promotion of tobacco products.