Health societies want deal changed
By Sid Perkins
UPI Science News
WASHINGTON, July 24 (UPI) -- The American Cancer Society recommends
changes in the proposed settlement between the tobacco industry and the
attorneys general of 40 states.
George Dessart, chairman of the society's board of directors, today calls
for the Food and Drug Administration's "unfettered ability" to regulate
substances in cigarettes, including the reduction or elimination of
nicotine. The organization contends the current settlement proposal
includes "wholly unjustified" procedural hurdles that the FDA must clear
before it could regulate the contents of cigarettes.
The society also suggests several measures to help reduce teen smoking,
including a surcharge for each tobacco company based on the teen use of
each brand of cigarettes. Another measure proposes boosting the 24-cent
federal tax on each pack of cigarettes by two dollars.
Among other changes, the cancer society calls for tobacco companies to
give the FDA all industry information relevant to public health, safety
and the development of less hazardous cigarettes.
Also today, the American Lung Association called the proposed tobacco
settlement's advertising provisions "a mere inconvenience to the tobacco
industry."
John R. Garrison, chief executive officer of the American Lung
Association, says, "Joe Camel and the Marlboro Man may be dead, but
cigarette advertising still has an impact on encouraging young people to
smoke."
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