The House voted Thursday to grant the Food and Drug Administration sweeping powers to regulate the production and marketing of tobacco products.
Under the bill (HR 1256), which passed 298-112, the FDA would be able to regulate nicotine levels, and makers of tobacco products would face tough new marketing and advertising restrictions.
The bill now goes to the Senate, where lawmakers are expected to face intense lobbying from the White House to clear it.
Supporters say the measure faces its best chance of becoming law since a massive effort to regulate tobacco and codify a landmark settlement with the tobacco industry collapsed in the Senate a decade ago.
Republicans said it defies common sense to ask the FDA, which approves products if they are proven to be safe and effective, to regulate nicotine.
“The last thing we should be doing is forcing the FDA to regulate an inherently dangerous product and carrying out a mission that is counter to its culture,” said Buyer during the debate.
Excuse me, is this the same FDA that won’t approve a product that is proven to be safe and effective?
If this bill passes and the FDA begins regulating tobacco, then it becomes even more absurd for them not to approve cannabis. Of course, they cannot while cannabis is still Schedule I, a designation meaning that the drug has no accepted medical value in the United States, despite thirteen states in the United States accepting the medical value of cannabis.
The DEA, Attorney General, or President would have to change the designation of cannabis from Schedule I to at least Schedule II (or completely de-schedule it, as logic would dictate), which they can do as an executive measure. It need not be approved by Congress or the courts.
That would be the Drug Enforcement Administration, which is also charged with enforcing the laws against the hemp that is not a drug, or the Attorney General, who once fought for five-year mandatory minimums for marijuana sales in DC, or the President who “inhaled, frequently, that was the point” and now can’t stop giggling about it.
And they are the ones who wonder what the hell we’ve been smoking.
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Nicotine, an “Inherently dangerous product” ?
- – Though it is not mentioned much in more modern folk-medicine and herbal-medicine books,
tobacco-leaf has been used as a poultice on bee-stings and to hasten wound-healing since antiquity.
– - What I find dangerous are the additives found in major commercial cigarette brands, such as “combustion-accelerants”, “flavor-enhancers” and the like. I prefer have none of these.
- – Natural, organic cigarettes and certain brands of “Flavored” cigarettes are what I choose to use, instead.
Hate to even smoke a Marble-Row Red these days because they have such a nasty, awful metallic aftertaste.
- – Though removing harmful additives appears to be a good thing,
this measure would also give the FDA the authority to regulate or ban safer alternatives,
such as e-cigarettes, which function similar to an herbal-vaporizer,
using flavored nicotine liquid instead of tobacco.
(I haven’t EVEN had the chance to try e-cigs yet, but do prefer to use a vape for tobacco whenever possible).
The Health Benefits of Tobacco, A Smoker’s Paradox
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1472186/posts