Mr. Merkley:<\/p>\n
I first want to thank Senator
\nDodd for his tireless advocacy on this issue.
\nThe need to regulate tobacco products has been evident for years, and
\nfor years it has been impossible to accomplish this goal. It is frankly unbelievable that while we
\nheavily regulate the production and sale of aspirin, a product that is as
\naddictive and destructive as tobacco goes without regulation. <\/p>\n
This
\nbill will go a long way in helping to keep these addictive products out of the
\nhands of our children. This bill gives the FDA the legal authority it needs to reduce
\nyouth smoking by preventing tobacco advertising targeting children. It also
\nprovides the FDA with the authority to prevent the sale of tobacco products to
\nminors, as well as the authority to prevent the tobacco industry from
\nmisleading the public about the dangers of smoking.<\/p>\n
Additionally,
\nthis bill takes important and much needed steps in providing for the regulation
\nof smokeless tobacco.<\/p>\n
We are all familiar
\nwith the dangers posed by cigarettes – the health effects have long been
\ndocumented – both on users and bystanders.
\nWe are also familiar with the steps being taken in many cities and
\nstates to rid our public areas of second-hand smoke. <\/p>\n
These actions,
\nthankfully, have been very successful and have lead to a major dilemma for
\ntobacco companies – if smoking becomes socially unacceptable, how can they
\ncontinue to replace the hundreds of thousands of smokers who die every year?<\/p>\n
Their response has been
\nto bet heavily on smokeless tobacco products.<\/p>\n
Chewing tobacco has
\nbeen around for awhile, but has its own limitations when it comes to social
\nacceptability – after all, there aren’t many places outside of this chamber
\nwhere you can still find a spittoon. So
\nthe tobacco companies are looking for hip, new smokeless tobacco products that
\ndon’t require spitting and can appeal to a new generation of kids. <\/p>\n
This picture was taken
\njust a few blocks from the Capitol.
\n[INDICATE FIRST CHART] It’s of a
\nnew product called “Snus” that RJ Reynolds is selling nationwide. It’s a flavored, pouched tobacco product that
\nis advertised as not requiring spitting.<\/p>\n
As you can see, it’s
\nadvertised next to displays of candy and mints.
\nIts container is not unlike that for mints. And I should note that this container was not
\nthe original design. As reported by the
\nPortland Oregonian last December,
\noriginally Snus came in circular containers more similar to chewing
\ntobacco. But when teachers at schools
\nnoticed these tell-tale containers in students’ pockets, RJ Reynolds redesigned
\nthem to look more like cell phones. <\/p>\n
Clearly, these
\nmarketing efforts are aimed at young people.
\nBut it gets worse.<\/p>\n
Now RJ Reynolds has
\ncome out with another product that they are test-marketing in three cities
\nacross the country, including Portland, Oregon:
\ntobacco candy. <\/p>\n
Tobacco candy comes in
\nanother one of these classic cell phone shaped containers. [INDICATE CHART TWO] They pop open kind of like a pez dispenser
\nand then you get individual candies that come in two flavors – “mellow,” which
\ntastes like caramel, or “fresh,” which tastes like mint. You suck on them for about 20 minutes and
\nthey just dissolve, like a Tic-Tac or other candy. But this candy is made out of finely ground
\ntobacco.<\/p>\n
Both the packaging and
\nthe product clearly look like mints or candies.
\nIn fact, just a few days ago, my wife ran across a sample pack I had a
\nhome and almost ate one before realizing they weren’t mints.<\/p>\n
They are fun, they are
\neasy to hide from parents and teachers, and they are very, very dangerous.<\/p>\n
The Indiana Poison
\nControl has estimated that each tobacco candy delivers 60-300 percent the
\nnicotine of a cigarette. These candies
\nare addictive and they cause cancer.<\/p>\n
And unless we pass this
\nbill and give the FDA authority to regulate, soon this tobacco candy will be
\ncoming to a convenience store near you. And we’ll see more displays like the one shown
\nin this photo taken in Portland – tobacco candy advertised right next to ice
\ncream. [INDICATE THIRD CHART]<\/p>\n
And once they’ve
\nmastered the technique of turning tobacco into kid-friendly candy, there is no
\nend to the variety of products the industry could turn out. Already, RJR is preparing to launch two new
\nforms, “Sticks” which are like toothpicks that you suck on and “Strips” that
\nare nearly identical to those breath mint strips that dissolve on your
\ntongue. [INDICATE FOURTH CHART]<\/p>\n
Everywhere I go and
\ntalk about these products, Mr.\/Madame President, people are outraged. Meanwhile, the tobacco industry and its
\nchampions are trying to justify these flavored products with the kid-friendly
\nmarketing as “safer” alternatives to smoking.
\nMr.\/Madame President – this simply isn’t so. And this rhetoric poses a real danger to consumers
\nwho might think smokeless tobacco is harmless when it so clearly is not.<\/p>\n
In fact, the Surgeon
\nGeneral has determined that the use of smokeless tobacco can lead to oral
\ncancer, gum disease and the increased risk of heart attacks. There is also a risk of cancer of the
\nesophagus and stomach. <\/p>\n
This is not a safer
\ntobacco – it is a product that, like cigarettes, when used as directed causes
\ncancer and kills.<\/p>\n
Further, it is not a
\nmethod of helping smokers quit smoking.
\nThe purpose of smokeless tobacco is to allow individuals to continue
\ntheir addiction to nicotine – or start a new addiction. The idea that the tobacco companies would
\nactually want to help people quit using their product is laughable, but that’s
\nthe argument that is made by too many tobacco proponents.<\/p>\n
Unlike Nicorette or the
\npatch, smokeless tobacco doesn’t help you quit – the doses don’t get any lower
\nover time. As the U.S. Public Health
\nService Clinical Practice Guideline noted, “The use of smokeless tobacco products
\nis not a safe alternative to smoking, nor is there evidence to suggest that it
\nis effective in helping smokers quit.”<\/p>\n
It is no secret that
\nthese products are dangerous. Back in
\n2003, Surgeon General Richard Carmona talked about what he called the “public
\nhealth myth” that smokeless tobacco is a good alternative to smoking. He emphatically said that that simply was not
\ntrue. It’s worth quoting him at length:<\/p>\n
·“I cannot conclude that the use of any
\ntobacco product is a safer alternative to smoking. This message is especially
\nimportant to communicate to young people, who may perceive smokeless tobacco as
\na safe form of tobacco use. Smokeless
\ntobacco is not a safe alternative to cigarettes. Smokeless tobacco does cause cancer.”<\/p>\n
That statement comes
\nfrom a 2003 House hearing on tobacco harm reduction. And I ask unanimous consent that his entire
\nprepared testimony from that hearing be entered into the record.<\/p>\n
It is a travesty that
\nRJ Reynolds can launch an addictive, carcinogenic candy targeted at children
\nwith no review from the FDA. Nicorette –
\ndesigned to help you quit smoking – had to go to the FDA for approval. But caramel tobacco candy – designed to hook
\nkids on tobacco – is on the shelves in Portland right now with zero oversight.<\/p>\n
This bill will finally
\nbring some transparency and common sense to the regulation of tobacco. Finally,
\nthe FDA will be able to address the single greatest public health menace in
\nthis country. I’m pleased that the bill
\nincludes an amendment that Senator Brown and I authored to require the Tobacco
\nAdvisory Committee to expedite review of tobacco candy. I look forward to passing this bill, and keeping
\ntobacco candies from store shelves before the industry succeeds in hooking a
\nnew generation.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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 of aspirin, a product […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newsroom"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n