60-Second Science
Jump to full article: Scientific American, 2009-06-12
Author: Katherine Harmon in 60-Second Science Blog
Intro: The Office of the Surgeon General issued a report [pdf] back in 1964, asserting that tobacco's "potential hazard is great… cigarette smoking contributes substantially to mortality from certain specific diseases and to the overall death rate." But in the intervening years, the $89 billion tobacco industry has eluded strict regulation. Annually, smoking ups U.S. health care costs $100 billion and continues to kill about 400,000.
The bill is on its way to Obama . . .
Jeff Stier at 06:52 PM on 06/12/09
The law that just passed will give the beleaguered Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority to regulate tobacco. On its face, this is a good thing. After all, cigarettes are the leading preventable cause of death in the United States.
But the devil is in the details. First of all, the language of this bill was written by Altria (which was formerly Philip Morris) and an activist group, the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (CFTFK).
The bill has numerous provisions that, from a public health perspective, actually make matters worse, rather than better.
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