ACP: Governmental Affairs and Public Policy - ACP supports S.2461, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act

Advocacy

ACP supports S.2461, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act

June 10, 2004

Senator Lamar Alexander
302 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510
Fax: (202) 228-3398

Dear Senator Alexander:

On behalf of the American College of Physicians (ACP), I am pleased to express our support for the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (S.2461), designed to give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority to regulate the sale, marketing, and advertisement of tobacco and to restrict access to tobacco products by underage people. ACP is the largest medical specialty society in the United States, representing 115,000 doctors of internal medicine and medical students. As such, ACP has long called on the federal government to regulate tobacco products in order to protect public health, improve consumer awareness, and ultimately save lives.

Legislation to grant the FDA oversight over tobacco products is long overdue. Unlike any other product consumed by Americans, tobacco products have continued to escape even the most basic oversight. Tobacco companies are not required to test additives for safety purposes, inform consumers what is in their products, or take any action to make their products less harmful or less addictive when it is possible to do so. Meanwhile, every year, the federal government spends an estimated $38 billion on services attributable to tobacco-related illnesses, states spend an estimated $7.3 billion on Medicaid services for tobacco-related illnesses, and over 440,000 Americans die from smoking-related illnesses.

ACP is therefore pleased that this legislation would allow for effective FDA regulation of tobacco products. By requiring manufacturers to place meaningful, more realistic health warnings on their products and advertisements and to disclose what ingredients are added to their products, consumer information is enhanced. ACP also appreciates provisions in the bill that would lower use of tobacco among children by restricting advertisements and promotions that appeal to kids, limit where tobacco products can be sold, and crack down on illegal sales of tobacco products to children. Every day 6,000 young people smoke their first cigarette, with nearly 2,000 becoming addicted, daily smokers.

FDA authority over tobacco products would finally give the public access to information the tobacco industry has on the health effects and addictiveness of their products and on marketing to children-information that has been withheld from the public for far too long. ACP appreciates the effort this legislation represents to bring this critical issue to the nation's attention. We look forward to working with the Congress to advance the goals of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act and on any additional initiatives related to tobacco regulation and smoking cessation.

Sincerely,

Charles K. Francis, MD, FACP
President