AACR CANCER POLICY MONITOR

                                                                                                    OCTOBER 2009

BAN ON FLAVORED CIGARETTES GOES INTO EFFECT

Menthol cigarettes and other flavored tobacco products unaffected

As of Sept. 22, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has banned the distribution, manufacture and importation of candy, fruit, or spice-flavored tobacco products.

"Almost 90 percent of adult smokers start smoking as teenagers, and these flavored cigarettes are a gateway for many children and young adults to become regular smokers," said FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, M.D., during a media briefing to discuss the new policy. "As a physician, a public health official, and a parent, I know just how important today's action is in taking another step toward protecting the health of America's children and ultimately reducing the burden of illness and death caused by tobacco use."

The FDA says that it is examining options for regulating menthol cigarettes, which are not included in the ban despite their status as the top-selling flavor of cigarette and rising popularity among teenagers. That issue, in addition to questions about how to handle flavored tobacco products other than cigarettes, such as cigars and chewing tobacco, will be reviewed by the newly established Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (TSPAC). TPSAC, a 12-member body being formed to provide guidance to the commissioner, is expected to hold its first meeting in early 2010.

The removal of flavored cigarettes from the market is one of the first steps in FDA's effort to enact the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, which granted the FDA with regulatory authority of the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of tobacco products.

Since the act was signed into law on June 22, the FDA has made significant progress in its implementation. Last month, it officially established the Center for Tobacco Products and hired its first director, Lawrence Deyton M.D., M.S.P.H. The agency is currently accepting public input on the implementation of the act and conducting listening sessions with many stakeholder groups.

Links:

• Candy and Fruit Flavored Cigarettes Now Illegal in United States; Step is First Under New Tobacco Law (Food and Drug Administration, Sept. 22, 2009)
• Transcript for FDA's Media Briefing on Ban on Cigarettes with Certain Characterizing Flavors (Food and Drug Administration)
• Letter to Industry on Cigarettes Containing Certain Characterizing Flavors (Food and Drug Administration)

Related Articles:

• FDA Opens New Center for Tobacco Products (AACR Cancer Policy Monitor, September 2009)

Read more from the October 2009 Edition of the AACR Cancer Policy Monitor:

• Congress Extends Deadline to Pass FY2010 Spending Bill
• Obama Visits NIH to Tout $5 Billion in Research Grants
• AACR Task Force Weighs in on FDA Regulation of Tobacco Products
• Stimulus Dollars Supporting Cancer Research
  
• NIH Names Panel of Experts to Review Eligibility of Stem Cell Lines for Federal Research
• Researchers Behind Breakthrough Cancer Drug, Gleevec, Honored with Lasker Award
• Harkin Assumes Leadership of Key Health Committee

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