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Entry bubble Tougher Tobacco Laws

By: Colleen | June 10, 2009 | Category: Health

The Senate is voting on a bill that would require larger health warnings on cigarette packs, ban candy flavorings and claims such as "light," "mild," and "low-tar," as well as place furthur restrictions on tobacco advertising.

The hope is that the bill will save millions of lives by deterring people from smoking and protect children by keeping them from ever trying cigarettes.

Others think this will add additional burdens to the FDA and hurt tobacco farmers. The Family Smoking and Tobacco Control Act will require tobacco companies to disclose detailed information about their products' ingredients and will allow the FDA to require changes to protect public health.

Critics think this legislation just forces tobacco companies to make a "safer cigarette" rather than focusing on aiding people in quitting, or never smoking in the first place.

What do you think of the new legislation? Will it be helpful in saving lives?

| View Comments [7] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: ban   cigarettes   colleen   fda   smoking   tobacco  

Comments (7):

blue comment bubble Posted by Bob Pendleton on June 10, 2009 at 07:36 AM EDT

Of course it will help. Smoking is an instance where strong regulation has changed cultural norms. Teenage smoking is way down in the U.S. Another good public health regulation is mandatory seat belt use. The data show we have saved lives.

We need to use the same strong approach to convince people to reduce other harmful behaviors, including the use of harmful substances of all kinds. This should be done by the public health community and the government.

We can't (and shouldn't) force people to refrain from dangerous activities, but we certainly should strongly educate people about the risks, and also regulate dangerous activities so that they are difficult and expensive to do.

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blue comment bubble Posted by MADinSD on June 10, 2009 at 08:11 AM EDT

the goverment sould stay out of other peoples likes and habits. I had a statement I used along time ago( If the goverment puts smokers on the run FAT peolple are next!)

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blue comment bubble Posted by Katie on June 10, 2009 at 10:03 AM EDT

If people are so worried about tobacco farmers, why don't we fund studies to find other uses of tobacco, or other crops they could successfully grow instead?

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blue comment bubble Posted by Winston Smith on June 10, 2009 at 02:24 PM EDT

Smokers are an inferior class of people. They clearly have very little--if any--willpower, otherwise they would have been smart enough to avoid that pointless habit in the first place.

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blue comment bubble Posted by Rina Kay on June 11, 2009 at 12:09 AM EDT

I agree that the government needs to stay out of peoples lives and work on more important issues pertaining to,how are they going to save America's Economy! If people want to smoke...let them! Hello!!!! This is suppose to be a free country! Why does the government want to control us? The air we breath is bad for us and the stress is hurting us more because of the economy! So spend more time on fix-en the economy and and stop spending time and money on keeping America smoke free!

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blue comment bubble Posted by michael proul on June 11, 2009 at 10:56 AM EDT

It has the potential to save a lot of lives.

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blue comment bubble Posted by Kentucky Proud! on June 12, 2009 at 09:02 AM EDT

Replying to Winston"Smokers are an inferior class of people. They clearly have very little--if any--willpower, otherwise they would have been smart enough to avoid that pointless habit in the first place. "

Since our president smokes you are saying he is an inferior person lacking willpower.. i think not. While i am far from being a fan, i do admire what he has achieved. Smokers are people too, just like you and me. I choose not to smoke, but i respect people's right to choose otherwise. I also think they should be held responsible for the consequences of their actions.

Also to Rina Kay "If people are so worried about tobacco farmers, why don't we fund studies to find other uses of tobacco, or other crops they could successfully grow instead?"

Kentucky has been working on this for decades, primarily through the University of Kentucky, College of Agriculture. Unfortunately a lot of the beneficial uses of tobacco are not politically palitable. http://www.ca.uky.edu/KTRDC/

There is a lot of ingrained knowledge in tobacco farmers, some have been doing the same thing for generations. Though education is available, many fear change, the unknow. I come from a proud tobacco family, though as profits decreased we have mostly moved to other things. There are not a lot of crops that will grow well in bad soil on the side of a hill. Tobacco has severed us well for 300 yrs, but it is time to move on.

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