"I think the bill is a huge missed opportunity for public health. The FDA's scientific advisory committee will have three tobacco industry representatives on it. They are non-voting, but I don't think that will matter. The fact that they are there at all is a problem. I think people have grossly underestimated how much trouble that will cause.
"Two things in the bill are quite good. The states can act independently from the federal government [on tobacco control] as can cities and local governments. . . . The place of real movement on tobacco control is at the state and local level.
"The other is that the bill allows for graphic warning labels. Graphic warning labels were developed in Canada a decade ago. They have a picture of smoking consequences, like a rotting lung or rotting teeth or heart disease. The warning labels on cigarette packages in the United States now are the weakest in the world. But there is a lot of evidence that graphic warning labels really do work."
-- Shari Roan
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Scott Ramminger
He's president of the American Wholesale Marketers Assn., in Fairfax, Va., an organization that represents distributors who purchase tobacco products from manufacturers and supply convenience stores. The organization joined with the National Assn. of Tobacco Outlets to oppose the legislation.
"We were not in favor of the legislation. We don't really think it's appropriate for FDA to be regulating tobacco. We don't think having more regulations is going to accomplish anything except cost the taxpayers a lot more money. It's difficult to say exactly what impact it's going to have. It really depends on how FDA decides to implement the legislation. That is where the rubber hits the road.
"But here is what I'm afraid could happen. In Canada and other places where draconian regulations have gone in effect, it has basically driven up the cost of the product. Any regulation imposed on any point in the supply chain is going to drive up the cost of the product. You've seen states raise the tax on cigarettes and the federal government has too. What it does is create a great opportunity for organized crime and people interested in subverting the system to bring in bootleg products on the black market. Cigarettes are very easy to make. . . . In California, you've already had a problem with counterfeit cigarettes from China.
