A report released by the Institute of Medicine on Thursday says the U.S. Food and Drug Administration should regulate tobacco. The report titled "Ending the Tobacco Problem: A Blueprint for the Nation" said that films which show tobacco smoking should be R rated and that federal tax on cigarettes should be hiked.
"Congress should confer broad authority on FDA to regulate the manufacture, distribution, marketing and use of tobacco products," the report said. Richard J. Bonnie, who is the chair of the IOM committee responsible for this report said there was no debate on the fact that tobacco was harmful to health. Tobacco is implicated in 440,000 deaths annually and health costs to treat tobacco related diseases are pegged at $89 billion annually.
"This is the only lawful consumer product where the declared objective of the nation is to suppress its use altogether," Bonnie said. "We really have to have a properly designed regulatory strategy to do that. There are still 45 million cigarette smokers and another 9.7 million users of other tobacco products."
He added that the main aim of the health regulators should be to see that tobacco use is reduced to a level where it no longer poses a danger to public health. The IOM report says that allowing FDA regulation would be a first step in curbing the use of tobacco and related products.
Matthew L. Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids called the report a wake-up call. "The report could serve as a catalyst to get Congress to act and for the president to sign such a bill," Myers said. "It would be unconscionable for the president to veto legislation giving the FDA authority over tobacco."
The report also recommended that tobacco companies should stop targeting youth and that states should devote $15 to $20 per person so as to initiate tobacco reduction programs.
