"FDA Regulation of Tobacco Products: What it Means for Policy, Practice and Research"

Congress approved landmark legislation and President Barack Obama signed it on June 22, 2009 giving the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) comprehensive authority to regulate the manufacturing, sale, marketing and distribution of tobacco products in the United States. This legislation was the culmination of extensive efforts from a broad range of tobacco control, public health and scientific organizations over more than a decade and is one of the most significant events in tobacco control history. The law provides unprecedented authority to this federal health agency to regulate tobacco products in numerous ways that have previously been unavailable; the lack of previous regulatory authority resulted in numerous deceptions by tobacco companies including the fraud of “light” cigarettes being marketed as less harmful than other cigarettes. This law provides specific power to the U.S. government to reduce the tremendous toll of death and disease caused by tobacco products.

This session will: 1) address the history of efforts to regulate tobacco products in the U.S., 2) provide unique insights into the complex legislative process that ultimately produced the law, 3) provide details regarding key legal issues pertaining to implementing the law, 4) share creative ways that states and communities can participate in the regulatory process and discuss examples of new opportunities resulting from the law, and 5) consider key research questions that should be studied to inform the regulatory process. A Senior Official from FDA will be invited to participate and discuss their plans to implement this comprehensive new tobacco control law.