The U.S. Senate vote to give the Food and Drug Administration regulatory control over tobacco products could be one more tool for Kansas public health advocates’ efforts to ban smoking from public places.
The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, approved on a 79-17 vote Thursday, would allow the FDA to oversee the content of tobacco products, giving the agency the authority to set standards that regulate nicotine content and chemicals found in cigarette smoke.
The act bans most flavorings, except menthol, and will prohibit the use of terms such as “light or “low tar,” and will reducing advertising to mostly black-and-white text ads. Cigarette manufacturers must also start printing larger, graphic warning labels on packages by 2012 that includes, among others, the phrase “WARNING: Tobacco smoke causes fatal lung disease in nonsmokers.”
A similar bill has passed the U.S. House of Representatives.
A Congressional Budget Office report estimates that the bill could result in an 11 percent reduction in the number of underage tobacco users and a 2 percent reduction in adult smoking over 10 years.
About 18 percent of Kansas adults and about 21 percent of high school students smoke.
Kansas Sens. Sam Brownback, a Topeka Republican, and Pat Roberts, a Dodge City Republican, both voted no. In April, Rep. Dennis Moore, a 4th district Democrat, voted for the comparable measure, while Reps. Jerry Moran, Todd Tiahrt, and Lynn Jenkins, all Republicans, voted no.
President Obama has said he would sign the bill as soon as it reached his desk.
Anne Spiess, a spokeswoman for the Kansas branch of the American Cancer Society, said the legislation would help efforts in Kansas to reduce youth access to tobacco and enact a statewide smoking ban in public places.
“Any kind of legislation — and this particular bill — will definitely have a favorable impact on our efforts in this state,” she said. “It shows people are concerned about it.”
Jessica Hoskinson, health education and promotion coordinator for the Reno County Health Department, said that although the FDA’s regulation would address many concerns, public health officials would still have work to do to help current smokers to stop and to keep new smokers from starting.
“I think we’ll still continue to have things to educate people about,” she said. “There are new products, such as electronic cigarettes, that maybe aren’t as harmful but still are dangerous. I think we’ll have a never-ending job of education.”
-Sarah Green is a staff writer for KHI News Service, which specializes in coverage of health issues facing Kansans. She can be reached at sgreen@khi.org or at 785-233-5443, ext. 118.