Heart of Health Policy | Earlier this year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed a new rule that would extend its authority to cover electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) and additional tobacco products. The extension is part of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act passed in 2009, which granted the FDA authority to regulate tobacco products, such as cigarettes, cigarette tobacco, roll-your-own tobacco and smokeless tobacco. According to the proposal, the additional tobacco products that would be “deemed” to be subject to FDA regulation are those that meet the statutory definition of a tobacco product, including currently unregulated marketed products, such as e-cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, nicotine gels, waterpipe (or hookah) tobacco and dissolvables not already under the FDA’s authority.

While this is a step in the right direction, the ACC and its allies do not believe that the proposal extends far enough and could undo any gains made at the federal and state level. In a fight to reduce tobacco-related deaths, the ACC, along with other health care organizations, recently submitted comments to the FDA. In addition to the College’s comments, a number of ACC chapters submitted letters calling for the FDA to strictly regulate e-cigarettes and other tobacco products.

Keywords: Nicotine, Tobacco Industry, Tobacco, United States Food and Drug Administration, Tobacco, Smokeless, Smoking, Gels, Cardiology Magazine, ACC Publications

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