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May 26, 2007:
A new report from the Institute of Medicine has
called upon the US Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) to regulate tobacco and develop a plan to
reduce nicotine levels in cigarettes. The report
also urges the Congress and the president to give
FDA the authority to enforce standards for
nicotine reduction and to regulate companies’
claims that their products reduce exposure or
risk.
Mooting aggressive steps to put an end to the
tobacco problem, the report offers a blueprint for
putting the nation on a course for achieving that
goal over the next two decades. A report on the
issue pointed out that cigarettes are unique in
that they contain carcinogens and other dangerous
toxins and would be banned under federal law if
these statutes did not expressly exempt tobacco.
Cigarettes being among the most dangerous consumer
products ever marketed, it is expected that a
bill, which is at present before the Congress,
would give US FDA the powers to have a check on
tobacco and the levels of nicotine in cigarettes.
Meanwhile, it is widely believed that if the FDA
reduces nicotine levels in cigarettes, people
would change their smoking habits to maintain
current levels of the addictive drug. Observers
said that it would lead to such a situation that a
decision about nicotine was being made only to
have made public health radically worse.
In addition to requiring a cut in nicotine the
institute has also called for higher taxes on
tobacco, nationwide indoor smoking bans and other
steps to reduce smoking. The general opinion is
that the FDA regulation can create a uniform set
of federal standards for the manufacture and
marketing of all tobacco products.
Historically, cigarette smoking is largely a 20th
century phenomenon and prior to that the Americans
had consumed tobacco primarily as chewing tobacco
or cigars. In 1900, adults smoked approximately 54
cigarettes per year and by year 1963, per capita
consumption had risen to 4,345 cigarettes per
year.
BY OUR PHARMA CORRESPONDENT
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