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FDA, in first tobacco action, bans flavors

Started by garbon, September 22, 2009, 08:42:26 PM

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garbon

QuoteWASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration took its first steps to rein in the tobacco industry on Tuesday, implementing a ban on candy, clove and other flavored cigarettes.

The move, required by a law passed earlier this year giving the FDA greater power over tobacco products, aims to help prevent children and teenagers from smoking.

"Candy and fruit flavored cigarettes are a gateway for many children and young adults to become regular tobacco users," Dr. Lawrence Deyton, head of the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products, told reporters in a conference call.

In June, President Barack Obama signed legislation allowing the FDA to oversee the manufacturing and marketing of cigarettes and other tobacco products, including regulating ingredients and limiting advertising. The agency must also approve any new tobacco products.

Still, the bill excludes any immediate action on menthol, or mint, flavored cigarettes that are used by as many as 12 million Americans, including most African-American smokers. Lawmakers instead called on the FDA to study the issue.

It is not immediately clear how effective the ban will be or what impact it will have on smoking habits.

"Although it will take time for it to have a 100 percent effect ... it will have a dramatic effect on children and young women who are most likely to smoke these products," said Diana Zuckerman, president of the National Research Center for Women & Families.

Children who already smoke may switch to regular cigarettes, but many will be reluctant try smoking if products don't taste good, she said. "I think it does make it harder for companies to try to get away with anything," she added.

The ban in unlikely to affect U.S. tobacco companies such as Altria Group Inc's Philip Morris unit and Lorillard Inc's Lorillard Tobacco Co, which do not make flavored cigarettes.

But some advocates have already expressed concern that smaller companies will simply shift their attention to cigars, snuff and other tobacco products not covered by Tuesday's ban.

The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, which supported the FDA's new oversight, said the nation's top distributor of clove-flavored cigarettes, California-based Kretek International Inc., now sells clove cigars that look and taste like its clove cigarettes.

Representatives for Kretek, which imports most of its products, could not be immediately reached. Star Scientific and other companies also make dissolvable smokeless tobacco products in various flavors.

FDA's Deyton said the agency would discuss other flavored products.

The FDA posted information about the ban on its website at http://www.fda.gov/TobaccoProducts/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/FlavoredTobacco/default.htm

(Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

They are going to ban cloves and menthols! :o :o :o

No need for alarm, folks. :Embarrass:
"I've never been quite sure what the point of a eunuch is, if truth be told. It seems to me they're only men with the useful bits cut off."
I drank because I wanted to drown my sorrows, but now the damned things have learned to swim.

Caliga

I like clove cigarettes. :ultra:  GODDAMN NANNY STATE.
0 Ed Anger Disapproval Points

Neil

They've banned candy cigarettes?

God, Americans are pussies.
I do not hate you, nor do I love you, but you are made out of atoms which I can use for something else.

garbon

Quote from: Neil on September 22, 2009, 08:49:48 PM
They've banned candy cigarettes?

God, Americans are pussies.
I think I was the last generation where they were readily available here. :weep:
"I've never been quite sure what the point of a eunuch is, if truth be told. It seems to me they're only men with the useful bits cut off."
I drank because I wanted to drown my sorrows, but now the damned things have learned to swim.

Sheilbh

Never heard of candy cigarettes - except for liquorice rizla.

Menthols in the UK are the preserve of the elderly (including my grandma).
Let's bomb Russia!

garbon

Hmm...wikipedia says that the law explicitly exempt menthols from flavor restrictions.

@Sheilbh - Menthols are the preserve of black people here.
"I've never been quite sure what the point of a eunuch is, if truth be told. It seems to me they're only men with the useful bits cut off."
I drank because I wanted to drown my sorrows, but now the damned things have learned to swim.

derspiess

QuoteThe Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Can't we just let the decline in smoking continue its natural course, instead of wasting money on stupid billboards & faux-guerrilla tactic TV commercials?  Everyone knows smoking is bad for you.
"If you can play a guitar and harmonica at the same time, like Bob Dylan or Neil Young, you're a genius. But make that extra bit of effort and strap some cymbals to your knees, suddenly people want to get the hell away from you."  --Rich Hall

garbon

"I've never been quite sure what the point of a eunuch is, if truth be told. It seems to me they're only men with the useful bits cut off."
I drank because I wanted to drown my sorrows, but now the damned things have learned to swim.

Ideologue

Quote from: garbon on September 22, 2009, 09:20:56 PM
Hmm...wikipedia says that the law explicitly exempt menthols from flavor restrictions.

@Sheilbh - Menthols are the preserve of black people here.
Untrue.
Kinemalogue
Current reviews: The 'Burbs (9/10); Gremlins 2: The New Batch (9/10); John Wick: Chapter 2 (9/10); A Cure For Wellness (4/10)

sbr

Quote from: garbon on September 22, 2009, 09:20:56 PM
Hmm...wikipedia says that the law explicitly exempt menthols from flavor restrictions.

@Sheilbh - Menthols are the preserve of black people here.

So does the article you posted.

garbon

Quote from: sbr on September 22, 2009, 09:39:44 PM
So does the article you posted.

I can't read properly when blinded by irrationality. :Embarrass:
"I've never been quite sure what the point of a eunuch is, if truth be told. It seems to me they're only men with the useful bits cut off."
I drank because I wanted to drown my sorrows, but now the damned things have learned to swim.

DGuller

Quote from: derspiess on September 22, 2009, 09:24:20 PM
QuoteThe Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Can't we just let the decline in smoking continue its natural course, instead of wasting money on stupid billboards & faux-guerrilla tactic TV commercials?  Everyone knows smoking is bad for you.
I'm starting to think the same way.  Surely at some point this has to become counter-productive, and just trigger contrarianism in many people.  I'm not sure if we reached that point yet, but I'm starting to get very annoyed when I keep seeing gangrenous limbs all the time on TV.

BuddhaRhubarb

Menthols? Oh that's a bold move, that is. wow. Tobacco must shaking like umm a leaf?
:p

Capetan Mihali

#13
Cloves are the preserve of the pretentious/wannabes, at least beyond a passing smoke.

Menthols are definitely associated with the Black smoking culture, but I know plenty of gay men and lower-class white men who smoke them just as passionately as any African-American.

EDIT:  I'm a reformed Winston Lights smoker.  Now I go for whatever I can get on discount: USA Gold, Palermo, Sonoma, Gold Coast, Basics, USA, Doral.... :(
"The internet's completely over. [...] The internet's like MTV. At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated. Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good. They just fill your head with numbers and that can't be good for you."
-- Prince, 2010. (R.I.P.)

ulmont

Quote from: garbon on September 22, 2009, 09:20:56 PM
Hmm...wikipedia says that the law explicitly exempt menthols from flavor restrictions.

As does the article you posted.  :contract: