A Public Participation Forum for the FDA Center for Tobacco Products and its Federal Advisory Committee (TPSAC)

Duff Wilson

New York Times

When a truck recently delivered 45,000 cartons of cigarettes to a research company in North Carolina, it was a turning point in the government’s war on smoking.

These were no ordinary cigarettes, but experimental ones, made of genetically altered tobacco to lower the nicotine content by 97 percent while preserving all the other tastes and smells and rituals for smokers of conventional cigarettes.

Researchers had been seeking a new and bigger supply because shortages had limited previous studies to just dozens of people. The experimental cigarettes are produced by a Massachusetts company, the 22nd Century Group, which holds 98 patents for genetic manipulation of tobacco plants to reduce or increase the amount of nicotine in cigarettes.

The House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on October 25^th to consider the proposed Regulatory Accountability Act of 2011.  The bill would mandate analysis of the costs and benefits of any attempt by FDA to ban menthol cigarettes.  The bill would also allow judicial enforcement of the bill’s analytic requirements. Such analysis would shed new light on proposals to outlaw menthol cigarettes.  The legislation would mandate the analysis of the key issues CRE has raised to the TPSAC and FDA including:

    1.   The public health consequences from the sale of counterfeit cigarettes which contain far higher levels of lead, mercury and other toxins than legal products; and

By Kevin Godbee
U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) have sent a letter dated October 14, 2011, to U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, requesting that the agency “move swiftly to issue a strong regulation that would legally treat or deem all tobacco products, including cigars, pipe tobacco, and hookah tobacco and accessories, as subject to the Tobacco Control Act.”

 The Fraternal Order of Police has sent a letter to the Commissioner of the FDA stating:

“Historically, the FOP has been very engaged in matters of public policy which impact the trafficking in illegal products. As a result, we have endured significant criticism in the past because we  questioned the wisdom of government policies which, while designed to combat youth smoking or reduce smoking overall, also greatly contributed to a rise in tobacco smuggling and a huge loss in revenue from taxes on tobacco products.”

Foxtoledo.com

California, ever the trendsetter, has inspired proposed congressional legislation aimed at cracking down on tobacco smuggling and increasing cigarette tax revenues.

The Smuggled Tobacco Prevention, or STOP, Act would require that tobacco products carry a high-tech stamp, similar to one used in the Golden State, that allows government investigators to track cigarette packages and determine whether taxes were paid and whether tobacco is being diverted to illegal markets.

The measure is modeled after a California program that began in 2005 and has reduced cigarette tax evasion by $133 million annually, according to the State Board of Equalization.

Reuters

 By Rob Taylor

CANBERRA (Reuters) – Australia’s government may have to delay plans for the world’s toughest anti-tobacco laws after conservative opposition lawmakers on Wednesday postponed a final vote on the controversial legislation in parliament.

The new laws, which will force cigarettes to be sold in plain packaging from 2012, are being closely watched by New Zealand, Canada, the European Union and Britain, which are considering similar restrictions.

By Marti Lotman

Electronic cigarettes, more commonly referred to as E cigarette devices, are cigarette alternatives where in instead of burning tobacco, it vaporizes nicotine in small amounts and provides you with the same smoking experience while avoiding all the adverse health risks associated with tobacco smoke inhalation.

One of the more reliable electronic cigarettes have been first made available in 2004 by a Chinese company called Ruyan which is now well-known for manufacturing good quality electric cigarettes.

Editor’s  Note: On  the first reading of this article in BackStage Magazine we were astounded only to realize that it was in the humor section of the magazine

And Not Young Handsome Brando Either! FDA Says.Humor  ||  By Eric Kohn  ||  Sep 26, 2011

Illustration by Eric Kohn

WASHINGTON — Regulators for the Food and Drug Administration announced this week that beginning in 2012 cigarette manufacturers will be required by federal law to display a nude photo of actor Marlon Brando on all packages of cigarettes sold in the United States.

Editors Note:  In the CRE testimony to TPSAC on  Modified Risk Products,  CRE  stated that:

“the marketing of modifiable risk tobacco products will be permitted when it is reasonably clear that:

1.  The new product will not be more harmful than existing products; and

2.  There is a reasonable scientific basis indicating the new product has the potential to reduce the risk of adverse health effects from consumption of tobacco products.”

Complete testimony at http://www.thecre.com/tpsac/?p=1652

Some health experts are now stating that dissolvable tobacco products are targeted towards  youth notwithstanding the following statement which is buried in the article.