FDA Bans Flavored Cigarettes

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has banned cigarettes with flavors of fruit, candy or clove. The ban, authorized by the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, is part of a national effort by the FDA to reduce smoking in America. Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in America.

The FDA's ban on candy and fruit-flavored cigarettes, effective today, highlights the importance of reducing the number of children who start to smoke, and who become addicted to dangerous tobacco products. The FDA is also examining options for regulating both menthol cigarettes and flavored tobacco products other than cigarettes.

"Almost 90 percent of adult smokers start smoking as teenagers. These flavored cigarettes are a gateway for many children and young adults to become regular smokers," said FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D. "The FDA will utilize regulatory authority to reduce the burden of illness and death caused by tobacco products to enhance our Nation's public health."
Flavors make cigarettes and other tobacco products more appealing to youth. Studies have shown that 17 year old smokers are three times as likely to use flavored cigarettes as smokers over the age of 25

Smoking Lowers U.S. Life Expectancy, Study Says

The effects of smoking on the nation's health is much more wide-ranging than just the number of people who die from it every year.

In a study comparing life expectancy worldwide, the U.S. tends to rank in the lower part of the list among the developed countries. While that's sometimes believed to be due to the U.S. healthcare system, a University of Pennsylvania demographer said that's not true. He told The New York Times that it's mostly because of the high rates of heart disease and cancer, both diseases you get from smoking.

The researchers said "that if deaths due to smoking were excluded, the United States would rise to the top half of the longevity rankings for developed countries," The Times said.

Nitro Fired Up Over Smoking Ban

Nitro, W.V., might leave Kanawha County's health department over a smoking ban.

At issue is whether the Tri-State Racetrack and Gaming Center should be exempt from the anti-smoking regulation, which was enacted by the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department. Nitro says yes; the health department, not so much.

Nitro's plan would switch the entire county from a split between Kanawha and Putnam, which is the case now, to placing the city completely into the Putnam County health department.