Federal Overview
Because more than 438,000 people die annually from tobacco-related diseases12 and more than 1,100 kids become new regular smokers each day13, Congress and the administration have not yet implemented policies that will stem the nation’s tobacco epidemic. This report grades the federal government on four fronts: Llegislation granting the Uu.S. Food and Ddrug Administration (FDA) regulation of tobacco products, federal cessation policy, the federal cigarette excise tax and the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). The methodologies and standards used to evaluate federal tobacco control policies are fully explained in the Methodology section starting on page 43.
| Incremental reforms... will not end the nation’s tobacco problem. A more fundamental shift must occur. It is time for Congress and other policy makers to change the legal structure of tobacco policy, thereby laying the foundation for a strategic initiative to end the nation’s tobacco problem, that is, reducing tobacco use to a level that is insignificant from a public health standpoint.”
—Ending the Tobacco Problem:
A Blueprint for the Nation—
The Institute of Medicine |
Food and Drug Administration Regulation of Tobacco Products
The American Lung Association supports strong legislation that grants the FDA the authority to regulate tobacco products. Strong and effective FDA regulatory authority would include the following elements:
- Regulation of advertising and marketing of tobacco products,
- Health information disclosure,
- A requirement for tobacco products to meet a “public health” standard,
- Effective health warnings,
- Authority to reduce or eliminate harmful components, and
- Authority to review reduced-risk health claims.
Additional information on the FDA issue can be found in the “Critical Elements of Any Legislation to Grant FDA Authority to Regulate Tobacco Products” fact sheet.
Despite some legislative progress in the 110th Congress, including committee action in both bodies and a record number of cosponsors, as of December 1, neither the Senate nor the House of Representatives had passed the FDA legislation. The American Association strongly urges Congress to pass this legislation early in 2008 and the president to sign the legislation once it reaches his desk.
In 2007, the United States receives an F for failing to give the FDA authority to regulate tobacco products.
Federal Cessation Policy
The American Lung Association supports the recommendations from the Department of Health and Human Services-appointed Subcommittee on Cessation of the Interagency Committee on Smoking and Health (ICSH) in the National Action Plan for Tobacco Cessation.
The plan proposed a well-funded national quitline network, national media campaign, federal coverage of cessation benefits and a smokers’ fund to assist people trying to quit. Currently, 45.3 million people in the United States smoke.14 Seventy percent say they want to quit.15
Some progress has been made in this area, Medicare has covered smoking cessation counseling for some of its beneficiaries since early 2005, and has covered prescription smoking cessation medications since January 1, 2006 when the Medicare prescription drug benefit went into effect. In 2007, legislation was introduced in the House and Senate that would encourage states to provide tobacco cessation coverage to pregnant women enrolled in Medicaid programs.
The United States receives an F for federal cessation policy because it has failed to implement virtually all of the recommendations of the ICSH.
Federal Cigarette Excise Tax
While the American Lung Association applauds the U.S. Congress for increasing the federal cigarette excise tax by $0.61 to $1.00 per pack, unfortunately it was vetoed by the president and will not take effect. The increased tax would have resulted in current smokers quitting and fewer children starting to smoke.
The recommendations in the national Action Plan for Tobacco Cessation and the Institute of Medicine’s Ending the Tobacco Problem: A Blueprint for the Nation call for the federal government to increase the federal cigarette excise tax by $2.00 per pack. If the Congress and the president can reach a compromise so that a 61-cent increase in the federal cigarette tax occurs, it would be a step in the right direction. However, the federal government must also ensure that dollars from the federal tobacco tax go to help smokers quit.
The federal government receives an F for cigarette tax.
Framework Convention on Tobacco Control
The American Lung Association supports the ratification of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). The FCTC is the world’s first public health and tobacco control treaty, and establishes international guidelines that countries can implement to control tobacco use and addiction. A full review of the FCTC and its treaty obligations can be found at the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
In January, an administration spokesperson was quoted by the Wall Street Journal saying that the administration agrees with most of the principles put forth in the FCTC and said the administration wants “to engage with the rest of the world to help bring them up to our standards.” due in part to the failure of the federal government to ratify the treaty, it is the United States that must play catch-up.
While the United States signed the treaty in 2004, President Bush has yet to send it to the Senate for ratification. The treaty will not be in force in the United States until the Senate ratifies it. Consequently, the United States cannot participate in current discussions regarding secondhand smoke, smuggling, cross-border advertisement, promotion and sponsorship, and packag¬ing and labeling of tobacco products.
The United States receives a D for the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
