The legislation supported by Senator Collins would provide the FDA the authority to regulate the sale, marketing and advertising of tobacco products to end practices that target youth and mislead the public. It would give the FDA the authority to require tobacco companies to list all the ingredients added by a manufacturer to the tobacco, paper, and filter of a tobacco product. The legislation also would require stronger, more explicit warning labels and would grant the FDA the authority to change labels periodically to ensure the warning remains effective.
"Many people may not know that no federal agency has the authority to require tobacco companies to list the ingredients that are in their products or to inspect manufacturing operations," said Senator Collins. "Given the addictiveness of tobacco products, it is essential that the FDA regulate them for the protection of public health, and particularly our children. We must have federal oversight over this potentially deadly product, which has gone unregulated for far too long." The legislation would require all tobacco products entering the market to be subjected to an FDA approval process. For the first time, the FDA would be able to review the health risks associated with tobacco products. The legislation would require manufacturers to submit health information to the FDA about "reduced-risk" tobacco products, which claim to be safer than other tobacco products, before they can be marketed and sold as "reduced-risk" products. The FDA, not the tobacco companies, would have the authority to determine which tobacco products are reduced-risk. "It makes no sense that the FDA requires Philip Morris to print the ingredients in its Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, but not the ingredients in its cigarettes," said Senator Collins.
On a national scale, 4,000 children under the age of 18 have their first cigarette every day. 730,000 children become new daily smokers each year and one-quarter of America's high school students leave high school as smokers. The Family Smoking Prevention and Public Health Protection Act has the active support of the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Association, and the American Lung Association.
Additional cosponsors of the legislation are Senators Richard Lugar (R-IN), Gordon Smith (R-OR), John Cornyn (R-TX), John McCain (R-AZ), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Lincoln Chafee (R-RI), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Christopher Dodd (D-CT), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), and Jack Reed (D-RI).