Rockefeller Applauds Tobacco Legislation
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State Senator John D. Rockefeller IV has applauded the passage of the bipartisan Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act that will give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the power to remove hazardous ingredients and prohibit tobacco advertising campaigns targeting children, the U.S. senate passed act with a vote of 79 to 17. The figures from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids show that over 3.5 million American high school students smoke and kids consume over 800 million packs of cigarettes a year. Senator Rockefeller has been a longtime supporter of stronger regulations to reduce the number of adolescents and teens smoking. In
The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control act would try and reduce children from smoking as well as remove hazardous materials. With the bill the FDA must regulate tobacco products, as well as restrict tobacco advertising from targeting children and misleading the public. To stop youths from smoking that act would prevent sale of tobacco products to youth by limiting tobacco sales to face –to-face transactions by making sure the age of the purchaser is verifiable, as well as Codify the 1996 FDA rule to reduce youth tobacco by giving the rule already developed by the FDA the force of law, instead of conducting another lengthy study. In an effort to remove hazardous material all tobacco products will require stronger warning labels that would include a description of the health problems that may result from tobacco use. The bill would also prevent misrepresentation by tobacco manufactures of the addictiveness of nicotine in their products. According to a press release from Senator Rockefeller’s office, tobacco companies have relied on chemically manipulating the nicotine in their products to make them even more addictive. The bill will also ensure that the inherent risk of using tobacco products is not unnecessarily increased as well as requiring manufactures to submit the products for FDA analysis before making such a marketing claim. The bill will also help the American taxpayers because tobacco companies would have to pay the cost of regulation based on their market share.