“I really liked camp because it taught me a lot about my asthma. At the camp I learned how to breathe better when I run. Now I can run farther without getting tired. Before the camp I would wheeze at night and it was hard to sleep. Now I sleep better.”

Luis De La Torre,
Asthma Camper,
San Jose

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Senate Takes First Step to Regulate Tobacco Products

Reuters, Wed Aug 1, 2007

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee have advanced a bill to allow the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco products, a proposal supported by public health groups and the nation's largest cigarette maker, Marlboro.

The bill, proposed by Massachusetts Democrat and committee chairman Edward Kennedy along with Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn, would allow the FDA to restrict tobacco advertising, prevent cigarette sales to minors, require stronger warning labels, ban misrepresentation of tobacco's dangers and order removal of dangerous ingredients from cigarettes. Tobacco companies would fund the FDA's oversight of their industry with a primary figure of $450 million in annual fees.

Kennedy has stated that although the bill will not make the toll of tobacco use disappear overnight, FDA action can play a role in breaking the cycle that drags millions of teenagers into a lifetime of addiction and premature death. Along the same lines, Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids states that the bill has the potential to save more lives than any other action that Congress has taken.

Critics of the bill say it overloads an already short-staffed FDA and fails to address how to help current smokers quit. Sen. Mike Enzi of Wyoming, the senior Republican on the Senate panel, agrees, stating that FDA approval of cigarettes would make people think tobacco products can be safe. The proposal has also stirred up controversy among tobacco companies, with Philip Morris USA, maker of top-selling Marlboro cigarettes, supporting the bill, and most other tobacco companies, including Reynolds American Inc., opposing it.

To read the entire article, visit: http://www.reuters.com/article/email/idUSN0135817420070801?pageNumber=2

These news briefs have been summarized from external sources. They have been placed here as resources on lung health issues. Breathe California does not endorse their findings nor have they verified their accuracy.