Landmark legislation to put tobacco under control of the Food and Drug Administration will surface in Congress next Wednesday and may be passed along to the president early this year.
The House Committee on Energy and Commerce is expected to vote on the legislation on Wednesday, a spokeswoman, Karen Lightfoot, said Friday.
The legislation would set up a new office in the F.D.A., financed by industry fees, to focus on tobacco. It would allow further restraints on sales and marketing to young people, including stronger warning labels with graphic depictions of smoking-related illnesses.
via – The New York Times “House Bill Expected on F.D.A. Control of Tobacco” 2/28/09
There’s nothing wrong with that, right? FDA oversight has worked well for most of our food and drugs barring small ‘oopsies’ like peanut butter and Seroquel (OK, a bunch more, too, but I have an article word limit). The problem lays with the hypocrisy shown by the FDA when you compare what they say about medical marijuana.
(… marijuana has a high potential for abuse, has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and has a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision). Furthermore, there is currently sound evidence that smoked marijuana is harmful. via – US FDA “Inter-Agency Advisory Regarding Claims That Smoked Marijuana Is a Medicine”
Yet the FDA is willing to control tobacco which actually has the characteristics of their quoted report and is a proven killer of more than 418,000 Americans every year vs 0 deaths from marijuana. The bill has language specifically allowing for “further restraints on sales and marketing to young people”. Isn’t this exactly what marijuana law reformers want when our drug of choice is legalized?
Imagine an FDA that regulated products based on harm potential. That no substance was outright banned, but just regulated based upon its potential for abuse, injury or fatality.
Seems to me the Fed is just giving us one more thing to beat them over the head with: if you’re willing to oversee a product of death what problem can you possibly have about pot that never killed ANYONE?
If the FDA is going to prohibit substances because they’re harmful then they’ll prohibit tobacco for sure. And that’d be a huge mistake!
Even the cartels won’t be able to keep the violence that’ll create out of our country!
The FDA needs shaking up. It’s incompetent and corrupt. We need to tell our legislators that we have no confidence in the FDA and the leadership currently in place!