House nears vote to curb tobacco deceptions, addiction
- Jul 29, 2008
The $70 billion industry that claims the premature deaths of more Americans each year than alcohol, AIDS, car accidents, illegal drugs, murders and suicides combined could soon find business as usual a thing of the past.
As early as Wednesday, the House could take up legislation that would place tobacco products under the authority of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the agency that regulates foods, drugs, and medical devices. Surprisingly, when compared to manufacturers of other consumables and safety products, tobacco companies receive a virtual free pass to pack their products with harmful ingredients and market them as they so please.
Under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (H.R. 1108), the FDA would be empowered to crack down on tobacco marketing and sales to kids, stop tobacco companies from misleading the public about the health risks of their products, and force tobacco companies to make changes in these products, such as the reduction or removal of harmful ingredients.
Richard Land, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, urged people in an action alert yesterday to help end “special treatment for tobacco companies” by contacting their representative and asking him or her to support the bill.
The ERLC is among a broad coalition of faith groups, known as Faith United Against Tobacco, calling for FDA oversight. Nearly 700 organizations, from the faith community to the health community, back the bill. Topping the list of national health group supporters are the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, and American Lung Association.
A general key to stemming the tide of tobacco addiction is quite simple: discourage its use before it begins. Yet doing so has proven a steep climb, weighed down by Big Tobacco’s $13 billion marketing schemes directed largely at youth. Parental directives and teacher admonitions urging kids to steer clear of cigarettes must compete with a bombardment of sleek magazine advertisements as well as candy-flavored cigarettes marketed to reel in youngsters ever so slowly until they experiment with and are hooked on the real thing. Once netted, young cigarette users struggle to free themselves from tobacco’s entrapment later in life. Roughly 90 percent of adult smokers began their habit during high school years or earlier.
In this war of messaging to capture the minds and wills of America’s next generation, the tobacco companies are winning by many measures. Studies show that advertising influences children at a rate three times greater than adults. It’s no wonder, then, that each day 1,000 youth become regular, daily smokers.
The dangers of tobacco use are widely known, and even conceded by the products’ most faithful consumers. Disturbingly, new revelations into Big Tobacco suggest the companies are retaining a lock on their market by stepping up doses of deadly chemicals rolled into cigarettes. A 2007 Harvard study found that tobacco companies increased levels of cigarettes’ primary addictive agent, nicotine, each year between 1998 and 2005, or roughly 11 percent during that period.
While the prospects of passage of H.R. 1108 in the House appear bright, a strong vote is crucial to help overcome a possible veto by President Bush. A primary White House concern is that the FDA is already overloaded and that the added responsibility of overseeing tobacco products would spread the agency too thin, diverting resources from other areas. A revision to the bill, however, prohibits shifting FDA funds to cover tobacco regulation and instead requires that tobacco companies foot the costs through user fees imposed on them.
There is no cure-all solution to rein in the deception of tobacco companies and their marketing campaigns aimed at youth. But we must not “make the perfect the enemy of the good,” as Land stated before a Senate committee last year. H.R. 1108 very well might have some flaws, as do many solutions in Washington, but the sum total of the good it would do far surpasses any possible concerns. It’s time has now come.
If you would like to end special treatment for tobacco companies and help prevent them from marketing to children, please urge your representative to vote for the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (H.R. 1108).
For more information:
The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission works to fight against substance abuse across the country by supporting legislation such as the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (H.R. 1108). If you would like to learn more about this important issue, additional resources are available here. If your church is interested in purchasing materials on substance abuse, please visit our online bookstore and erlc.com.
Further Learning
Learn more about: Family, Addictions, Living, Health, Citizenship, Legislation