Part 1: avoidance of nicotine addiction - remove the flavoring from all tobacco products..

       Our Children Our Future
March 10 , 2010 - Our highest priority has to be keeping children from beginning to use tobacco products. If you agree with the words of Dr. Richard Carmona, 17th Surgeon General of the USA then we must do everything possible to stop the proliferation of flavored tobacco products.

Effective Tuesday, September 22, 2009, cigarettes that contain certain characterizing flavors are considered adulterated under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act , as amended by the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act are prohibited.. The FDA Commissioner, Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg, was quick to point out that these flavored cigarettes are a gateway for many children and young adults to become regular smokers. However, these cigarettes were not even one percent of the market. For example, cloves was less than a tenth of one percent of the U.S. cigarette consumption. Now it is time to do the same for the Other Tobacco Products (OTP).

FDA Fact Sheet: Flavored tobacco products have become increasingly common in the United States. These products, containing flavors like vanilla, orange, chocolate, cherry and coffee, are especially attractive to youth. They are widely considered to be “starter” products, establishing smoking habits that can lead to a lifetime of addiction. Like all tobacco products, flavored tobacco products have serious health risks and are not considered safe by the FDA.

Michael E. Szymanczyk, Altria Group’s chairman and CEO: "We have consistently advocated for federal regulation that recognizes the serious harm caused by tobacco products, that helps ensure tobacco companies do not market tobacco products to children and that also acknowledges that tobacco products are and should remain legal products for adults."

Michael Leavitt, former Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Bush administration has said "Unlike the medical products FDA regulates, tobacco products cannot be made safe, and there is no medically established public health benefit associated with tobacco."

Matthew L. Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids: "Flavored tobacco products are clearly intended to introduce a new generation of children to tobacco."

According to one study of youth smokers between the ages of 13 and 18, 52% of smokers who had heard of flavored cigarettes reported interest in trying them, and nearly 60% thought that flavored cigarettes would taste better than regular cigarettes. Flavors make cigarettes and other tobacco products more appealing to youth. Studies have shown that 17 year old smokers are three times as likely to use flavored cigarettes as smokers over the age of 25. (Klein SM, Giovino GA, Barker DC, Tworek C, Cummings KM, O'Connor RJ. Use of flavored cigarettes among older adolescent and adult smokers: United States, 2004-2005. Nicotine Tob Res. 2008;10(7):1209-14.)

Further action on the part of the FDA's Tobacco Center must include an expansion of the ban to include all flavored tobacco products such as cigars, cigarillos, snuff, chewing tobacco, dissolvable tobacco products, blunt wraps (The City of Boston has already banned these products). As pointed out in the FDA Parental Advisory - these kinds of flavors make tobacco products especially appealing to kids, and can lead to a lifetime of tobacco addiction.

The Center, under Dr. Deyton’s leadership, will be engaging in lifesaving activities by stopping the many tactics that lure children to pick up poisonous products that too often lead to deadly addiction.” Statement of John R. Seffrin, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer, American Cancer Society and American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network. August 19, 2009 regarding FDA Center for Tobacco Products Center.

Deyton - We have a goal, under this law, to keep youth tobacco-free. The unit will be responsible for carrying out the legislation, including restricting tobacco advertising, collecting user fees from tobacco companies and stopping the sales of cigarettes and other tobacco products to children. FDA Launches New Center for Tobacco Products 8/19/2010..

U.S. District Judge Joseph H. McKinley Jr. in a decision concluded that "there is no way to limit the distribution of these items [tobacco items] to adults only" and that, if there were, adults would become "walking advertisements" for the idea that "tobacco use is widely accepted, which is extremely important to children and adolescents." The judge said the FDA's arguments were supported by Supreme Court and appeals court rulings upholding regulators' power to limit what companies can claim about their products. He ruled that the agency demonstrated that the dangers to the public it cited were real, noting the tobacco industry's history of suppressing information about the risks of smoking. (Federal judge - upheld most of law that regulates tobacco but struck down limits on advertising..)

Pankow et al., a recent study has found that smokeless tobacco products can contain up to 700% more flavor additives than candy.

Brett Hamilton, executive director of Tobacco Free Coalition of Oregon
"Flavored tobacco products are a major concern because they are sure to lure even more kids into tobacco use and addiction. These new products no doubt appeal to kids because of their candy-like forms and flavors. In spite of promises by the tobacco industry, smokeless tobacco products continue to be marketed in a wide variety of kid-friendly candy and fruit flavors.”

Channing Robertson, professor at Stanford University and member of the World Health Organization (WHO) study group on Tobacco Product Regulation
“Pankow and his collaborators provide compelling evidence that the tobacco industry continues its quest to manufacture terribly addictive and hazardous products that are particularly attractive to young people. By flavoring a product to mask its otherwise appallingly disgusting taste, these companies extend their reach into the marketplace to sustain and often grow their addicted consumer base thereby perpetuating their business of raining disease and death on those who in the end would choose to stop using these products could they readily do so.”

Yes - tobacco is a legal substance but let's make these products less appealing by eliminating all flavoring.