Support for the Regulation of Tobacco Products by the Food and Drug Administration
February 2007
Dear Senator/Representative:
Congress has an historic opportunity to embrace responsible legislation that will help to reduce the suffering and death caused by tobacco. Bipartisan legislation has been introduced by Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Senator John Cornyn (R-YY), S 625, in the U.S. Senate and by Representatives Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Tom Davis (R-VA), HR 1108, in the U.S. House of Representatives to give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to regulate the tobacco industry for the first time, ending the exceptional protection granted only to tobacco companies and to no other industry.
In 2004, the U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly, 78-15 to grant the FDA effective authority to regulate tobacco products, but the legislation ultimately died in a conference committee. Forty-three years have passed since the U.S. Surgeon General reported on the unquestionable dangers of smoking. Since that time, tobacco products have become the largest single preventable cause of death in America while Congress has yet to take meaningful action.
Tobacco use kills more than 400,000 Americans each year and costs our nation more than $96 billion in health care costs. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, tobacco use by pregnant women alone costs between $400-500 million per year due to complications such as low birth weight, premature births and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). And every day Congress fails to act, another 1,000 kids become regular smokers, one-third of whom will die prematurely as a result. Yet tobacco products are virtually unregulated to protect consumers? health and safety. For decades, the tobacco companies have marketed their deadly products to our children, deceived consumers about the harm their products cause, and failed to take any meaningful action to make their products less harmful or less addictive. The Kennedy-Cornyn and Waxman-Davis bills would finally end the exceptional protection enjoyed by the tobacco industry and protect our children and the nation?s health instead.
This legislation meets the standards long established by the public health community for a strong FDA tobacco regulation bill that protects the public health. It would give the FDA the necessary tools and resources to effectively regulate the manufacturing, marketing, labeling, distribution and sale of tobacco products. The FDA would have the authority to:
- Stop illegal sales of tobacco products to children and adolescents.
- Require changes in tobacco products, such as the reduction or elimination of harmful chemicals, to make them less harmful and less addictive.
- Restrict advertising and promotions that appeal to children and adolescents.
- Prohibit unsubstantiated health claims about so-called ?reduced risk? tobacco products that discourage current tobacco users from quitting or encourage new users to start.
- Require the disclosure of tobacco product content and tobacco industry research about the health effects of their products.
- Require larger and more informative health warnings on tobacco products.
This much-needed bipartisan FDA legislation protects the public?s health and should be enacted in this session of Congress. We remain concerned that opponents of effective FDA tobacco regulation will seek to weaken the bills. Our organizations will work vigorously to protect the bills as they currently exist and will oppose efforts to eliminate or weaken the FDA authority they provide. Please support the Kennedy- Cornyn, S625, and Waxman-Davis, HR 1108, FDA bills and oppose any and all weakening changes.
Following this letter is a list of public health, faith and other organizations representing millions of people from across the country that have endorsed this legislation and are actively working to see it enacted into law.
Sincerely,
National Public Health Organizations (80)
American Cancer Society
American Heart Association
American Lung Association
Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
Academy of General Dentistry
Alliance of the American Dental Association
American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
American Academy of Dermatology
American Academy of Family Physicians
American Academy of Nurse Practitioners
American Academy of Oral Medicine
American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery
American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry
American Academy of Pediatrics
American Academy of Periodontology
American Academy of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
American Association for Cancer Research
American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation
American Association of Dental Editors
American Association of Dental Examiners
American Association for Dental Research
American Association of Neuromuscular and Electrodiagnostic Medicine
American Association of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons
American Association of Orthodontists
American Association of Public Health Dentistry
American Association for Respiratory Care
American College of Cardiology
American College of Chest Physicians
American College of Dentists
American College of Prosthodontists
American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists
American College of Occupational & Environmental Medicine
American College of Physicians
American College of Preventative Medicine
American Dental Association
American Dental Education Association
American Dental Hygienists? Association
American Medical Association
American Medical Student Association
American Psychiatric Association
American Psychological Association
American Public Health Association
American Society of Addiction Medicine
American Society of Clinical Oncology
American Student Dental Association.
American Thoracic Society
Americans For Health Care
Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum
Association of Community Cancer Centers
Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs
Association of Pediatric Hematology Oncology Nurses
Association of State & Territorial Dental Directors
Association of State & Territorial Health Officials
Association of Women's Health, Obstetric & Neonatal Nurses
Black Men?s Health Initiative
Children?s Cause for Cancer Advocacy
Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America
CureSearch National Childhood Cancer Foundation
Directors of Health Promotion and Education
Foundation for a Smokefree America
Heart Rhythm Society
Hispanic Dental Association
Lung Cancer Alliance
March of Dimes
National African American Tobacco Prevention Network
National Association of County & City Health Officials
National Association of Health Education Centers
National Association of Local Boards of Health
National Consumers League
National Council of La Raza
National Dental Association
National Hispanic Medical Association
National Latino Council on Alcohol & Tobacco Prevention
National Physicians Alliance
Oncology Nursing Society
Oral Health America
Partnership for Prevention
Society for Public Health Education
The Lance Armstrong Foundation
Trust for America?s Health
Other National Organizations (13)
AARP
ASPIRA, Inc.
Children?s Defense Fund
Families USA
First Focus
Hadassah – Women?s Zionist Organization of America
National Education Association
National Partnership for Women & Families
National Puerto Rican Coalition
National Research Center for Women & Families
National Women?s Law Center
Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
Veterans for Common Sense
National/Regional Faith Organizations (35)
American Baptist Churches of the South
American Baptist Churches USA
Brethren Witness/Washington Office
Briarwood United Methodist Church – Jackson, MS
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Catholic Conference of Kentucky
Christian Methodist Episcopal Church
Church Women United
Crossroads Community Church – OH
Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, Southern Baptist Convention
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
FAME Church – CA
General Board of Church & Society, United Methodist Church
General Commission on United Methodist Men
Health Ministries Association
Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility
International Parish Nurse Resource Center
Interreligious Coalition on Smoking or Health
Islamic Society of North America
Kansas East Conference Board of Church & Society, United Methodist Church
Kansas Ecumenical Ministries Governing Board
Liberty Baptist Church – Flowood, MS
Mt. Sinai Church - NE
National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA
National Episcopal Health Ministries
Orchardville Community Church: Centralia Branch - IL
Presbyterian Church (USA)
Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
Seventh-day Adventists
United Church of Christ
United Methodist Church
Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations
West Salem Trinity United Methodist Church ? IL
Women?s Division, GBGM, United Methodist Church
World Sikh Council - America Region
Regional Organizations (20)
American Cancer Society, Eastern Division, Inc. (New Jersey and New York)
American Cancer Society, Great Lakes Division, Inc. (Michigan and Indiana)
American Cancer Society, Great West Division, Inc. (Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota)
American Cancer Society, High Plains Division, Inc. (Hawaii, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri)
American Cancer Society, Mid-South Division, Inc. (Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky)
American Cancer Society, Midwest Division, Inc. (South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin)
American Cancer Society, New England Division, Inc. (Connecticut, Vermont, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine)
American Cancer Society, South Atlantic Division, Inc. (Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia)
American Heart Association – Great Rivers Affiliate (West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Delaware)
American Heart Association – Greater Midwest Affiliate (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, South Dakota, North Dakota)
American Heart Association - Greater Southeast Affiliate, (Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee)
American Heart Association – Heartland Affiliate (Oklahoma, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas)
American Heart Association – Heritage Affiliate (Connecticut, New Jersey, New York City)
American Heart Association – MidAtlantic Affiliate (South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Washington, DC)
American Heart Association – Northeast Affiliate (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, New York State, Massachusetts)
American Heart Association – Pacific Mountain Affiliate (Hawaii, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, Arizona, New Mexico)
Asthma & Allergy Foundation of America, New England Chapter
Intermountain Pediatric Society/AAP Utah Chapter
Maryland/District of Columbia Society for Respiratory Care
New Hampshire/Vermont Thoracic Society
State/Local Organizations (487)
Alaska
Alaska Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics
American Lung Association of Alaska
Alabama
Alabama Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics
Alabama Chapter, American College of Cardiology
Alabama Dental Association
Alabama Society for Respiratory Care
Arkansas
American Lung Association of Arkansas
Arkansas Clinical Oncology Association
Arkansas Society for Respiratory Care
Arkansas State Dental Association
Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Arkansas
Arizona
American Lung Association of Arizona
Arizona Clinical Oncology Society
Arizona Dental Association
Arizona Public Health Association
Arizona Society for Respiratory Care
Arizona Thoracic Society
California
Alpine County Health & Human Services ? CA
American Cancer Society, California Division, Inc.
American Lung Association of California
California Academy of Family Physicians
California Chapter 3 of the American Academy of Pediatrics
California Conference of Local Health Officers
California Dental Association
California Society for Respiratory Care
California Thoracic Society
FAME Church – CA
Health Officers Association of California
Loma Linda Univ. School of Dentistry – CA
Loma Linda Univ. School of Public Health – CA
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors – CA
Orange County Chapter of the Oncology Nursing Society – CA
San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of the Oncology Nursing Society – CA
Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency – CA
Valley Community Clinic – CA
Colorado
American Lung Association of Colorado
Boulder Pride – CO
Colorado Academy of Family Physicians
Colorado Dental Association
Colorado Society for Respiratory Care
Colorado Thoracic Society
Connecticut
American Lung Association of Connecticut
Connecticut Academy of Family Physicians
Connecticut Association of Directors of Health, Inc.
Connecticut Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics
Connecticut Dental Hygienists? Association, Inc.
Connecticut Society for Respiratory Care
Connecticut State Dental Association
Connecticut Thoracic Society
Western Oncology Nurses of Connecticut Chapter of the Oncology Nursing Society
Washington, DC
District of Columbia Dental Society
District of Columbia Thoracic Society
Medical Society of the