U.S. expert panel urges regulation of tobacco

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

U.S. expert panel urges regulation of tobacco
Thu May 24, 2007 1:03PM EDT

By Will Dunham

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration
should be given the power to regulate tobacco products and
cigarette taxes should be hiked as part of a government campaign
to reduce smoking, an expert panel recommended on Thursday.

"These dangerous products are essentially unregulated," Richard
Bonnie, a University of Virginia law professor and chairman of
the 14-member Institute of Medicine panel, told reporters.

Congress and the president should give the FDA broad regulatory
power over tobacco marketing, packaging and distribution, the
panel's report said.

-snip-

The Institute of Medicine provides advice on health issues to
U.S. policymakers. The report was requested by the American
Legacy Foundation, a tobacco control advocacy group created in
1999 under a settlement between various state attorneys general
and the tobacco industry.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN2433792920070524

---

Source: Associated Press

Study: Cut nicotine in cigarettes

By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID, Associated Press Writer
19 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - The Food and Drug Administration should regulate
tobacco and develop a plan to reduce nicotine levels in cigarettes, the
Institute of Medicine urged Thursday.

Its report calls on Congress and the president to give FDA the authority
to enforce standards for nicotine reduction and to regulate companies'
claims that their products reduce exposure or risk.

"We propose aggressive steps to end the tobacco problem — that is, to
reduce tobacco use so substantially that it is no longer a significant
public health problem. This report offers a blueprint for putting the
nation on a course for achieving that goal over the next two decades,"
said Richard J. Bonnie, director of the Institute of Law, Psychiatry
and Public Policy at the University of Virginia School of Law. Bonnie
was chairman of the committee that prepared the report.

-snip-

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070524/ap_on_he_me/tobacco

[sinkingfeeling]

1. Don't you just love the 'Nanny state'? What freedoms?

[GrumpyGreg]

2. If everyone quit smoking the politicians would be an in absolute

quandry for another source of revenue.

The really don't want smoking to cease !!!!!

[dipsydoodle]

4. Same applies in the UK

Always been heavily reliant on tax/duty revenue on tobacco, alcohol and petrol.

[BadgerKid]

3. Does/Can the fed regulate tobcco sales on reservations?

[NaturalHigh]

5. Yes, federal taxes still apply.