Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act targets kids and use

In a move that will essentially change the way the United States regulates tobacco, President Obama signed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (H.R. 1256).

tobacco control

The legislation grants the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority to regulate the marketing of tobacco products, specifically marketing designed to mislead consumers or recruit underage smokers. 

The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act grants the FDA the tools to combat these practices in the tobacco industry and will immediately reduce the ability of tobacco companies to recruit new smokers and limit the devastation caused by tobacco-related disease.

The legislation specifically gives the FDA the authority to:

• Crack down on tobacco marketing and sales to children.
• Ban candy-flavored cigarettes
• Require disclosure of the contents of tobacco products.
• Compel the tobacco industry to research about the health effects of their products.
• Mandate changes in tobacco products such as the removal of harmful ingredients.
• Prohibit terms such as “light”, “mild” and “low-tar” that mislead consumers into believing that certain cigarettes are safer than others.
• Stop marketing claims that may discourage current tobacco users from quitting or persuade potential users to start.
• Require larger, more effective health warnings on tobacco products.