Wednesday, June 3, 2009<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr. Merkley:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I first want to thank Senator Dodd for his tireless advocacy on this issue. The need to regulate tobacco products has been evident for years, and for years it has been impossible to accomplish this goal. It is frankly unbelievable that while we heavily regulate the production and sale of aspirin, a product that is as addictive and destructive as tobacco goes without regulation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This bill will go a long way in helping to keep these addictive products out of the hands of our children. This bill gives the FDA the legal authority it needs to reduce youth smoking by preventing tobacco advertising targeting children. It also provides the FDA with the authority to prevent the sale of tobacco products to minors, as well as the authority to prevent the tobacco industry from misleading the public about the dangers of smoking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Additionally, this bill takes important and much needed steps in providing for the regulation of smokeless tobacco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are all familiar with the dangers posed by cigarettes \u2013 the health effects have long been documented \u2013 both on users and bystanders. We are also familiar with the steps being taken in many cities and states to rid our public areas of second-hand smoke. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
These actions, thankfully, have been very successful and have lead to a major dilemma for tobacco companies \u2013 if smoking becomes socially unacceptable, how can they continue to replace the hundreds of thousands of smokers who die every year?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Their response has been to bet heavily on smokeless tobacco products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chewing tobacco has been around for awhile, but has its own limitations when it comes to social acceptability \u2013 after all, there aren\u2019t many places outside of this chamber where you can still find a spittoon. So the tobacco companies are looking for hip, new smokeless tobacco products that don\u2019t require spitting and can appeal to a new generation of kids. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This picture was taken just a few blocks from the Capitol. [INDICATE FIRST CHART] It\u2019s of a new product called \u201cSnus\u201d that RJ Reynolds is selling nationwide. It\u2019s a flavored, pouched tobacco product that is advertised as not requiring spitting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As you can see, it\u2019s advertised next to displays of candy and mints. Its container is not unlike that for mints. And I should note that this container was not the original design. As reported by the Portland Oregonian last December, originally Snus came in circular containers more similar to chewing tobacco. But when teachers at schools noticed these tell-tale containers in students\u2019 pockets, RJ Reynolds redesigned them to look more like cell phones. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Clearly, these marketing efforts are aimed at young people. But it gets worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now RJ Reynolds has come out with another product that they are test-marketing in three cities across the country, including Portland, Oregon: tobacco candy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tobacco candy comes in another one of these classic cell phone shaped containers. [INDICATE CHART TWO] They pop open kind of like a pez dispenser and then you get individual candies that come in two flavors \u2013 \u201cmellow,\u201d which tastes like caramel, or \u201cfresh,\u201d which tastes like mint. You suck on them for about 20 minutes and they just dissolve, like a Tic-Tac or other candy. But this candy is made out of finely ground tobacco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both the packaging and the product clearly look like mints or candies. In fact, just a few days ago, my wife ran across a sample pack I had a home and almost ate one before realizing they weren\u2019t mints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They are fun, they are easy to hide from parents and teachers, and they are very, very dangerous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Indiana Poison Control has estimated that each tobacco candy delivers 60-300 percent the nicotine of a cigarette. These candies are addictive and they cause cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And unless we pass this bill and give the FDA authority to regulate, soon this tobacco candy will be coming to a convenience store near you. And we\u2019ll see more displays like the one shown in this photo taken in Portland \u2013 tobacco candy advertised right next to ice cream. [INDICATE THIRD CHART]<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And once they\u2019ve mastered the technique of turning tobacco into kid-friendly candy, there is no end to the variety of products the industry could turn out. Already, RJR is preparing to launch two new forms, \u201cSticks\u201d which are like toothpicks that you suck on and \u201cStrips\u201d that are nearly identical to those breath mint strips that dissolve on your tongue. [INDICATE FOURTH CHART]<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Everywhere I go and talk about these products, Mr.\/Madame President, people are outraged. Meanwhile, the tobacco industry and its champions are trying to justify these flavored products with the kid-friendly marketing as \u201csafer\u201d alternatives to smoking. Mr.\/Madame President \u2013 this simply isn\u2019t so. And this rhetoric poses a real danger to consumers who might think smokeless tobacco is harmless when it so clearly is not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In fact, the Surgeon General has determined that the use of smokeless tobacco can lead to oral cancer, gum disease and the increased risk of heart attacks. There is also a risk of cancer of the esophagus and stomach. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is not a safer tobacco \u2013 it is a product that, like cigarettes, when used as directed causes cancer and kills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Further, it is not a method of helping smokers quit smoking. The purpose of smokeless tobacco is to allow individuals to continue their addiction to nicotine \u2013 or start a new addiction. The idea that the tobacco companies would actually want to help people quit using their product is laughable, but that\u2019s the argument that is made by too many tobacco proponents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unlike Nicorette or the patch, smokeless tobacco doesn\u2019t help you quit \u2013 the doses don\u2019t get any lower over time. As the U.S. Public Health Service Clinical Practice Guideline noted, \u201cThe use of smokeless tobacco products is not a safe alternative to smoking, nor is there evidence to suggest that it is effective in helping smokers quit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is no secret that these products are dangerous. Back in 2003, Surgeon General Richard Carmona talked about what he called the \u201cpublic health myth\u201d that smokeless tobacco is a good alternative to smoking. He emphatically said that that simply was not true. It\u2019s worth quoting him at length:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00b7\u201cI cannot conclude that the use of any tobacco product is a safer alternative to smoking. This message is especially important to communicate to young people, who may perceive smokeless tobacco as a safe form of tobacco use. Smokeless tobacco is not a safe alternative to cigarettes. Smokeless tobacco does cause cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That statement comes from a 2003 House hearing on tobacco harm reduction. And I ask unanimous consent that his entire prepared testimony from that hearing be entered into the record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is a travesty that RJ Reynolds can launch an addictive, carcinogenic candy targeted at children with no review from the FDA. Nicorette \u2013 designed to help you quit smoking \u2013 had to go to the FDA for approval. But caramel tobacco candy \u2013 designed to hook kids on tobacco \u2013 is on the shelves in Portland right now with zero oversight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This bill will finally bring some transparency and common sense to the regulation of tobacco. Finally, the FDA will be able to address the single greatest public health menace in this country. I\u2019m pleased that the bill includes an amendment that Senator Brown and I authored to require the Tobacco Advisory Committee to expedite review of tobacco candy. I look forward to passing this bill, and keeping tobacco candies from store shelves before the industry succeeds in hooking a new generation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Wednesday, June 3, 2009 Mr. Merkley: I first want to thank Senator Dodd for his tireless advocacy on this issue. The need to regulate tobacco products has been evident for years, and for years it has been impossible to accomplish this goal. It is frankly unbelievable that while we heavily regulate the production and sale […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newsroom"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n