American Cancer Society Asks High Court to Allow FDA Regulation of Tobacco Products

American Cancer Society
Wednesday, 1 December 1999

The United States Supreme Court will hear arguments today — in a case with major public health implications — focusing on the authority of the United States Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco and tobacco-related products. In a "friend of the court" brief, the American Cancer Society has asked the Court to support the FDA and reverse a decision handed down by the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals which invalidated the regulation of tobacco products under the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.

"Big Tobacco cannot and should not be able to market a deadly product to children, manipulate its addictive qualities, lie to the American public for decades about its safety, and be able to get away with it," said John R. Seffrin, Ph.D., chief executive officer of the two-million-member Society. "The law doesn't allow it, and the American Cancer Society believes no interpretation of that law should provide Big Tobacco with special protection."

In the Amicus brief filed with the Supreme Court, the American Cancer Society notes that the number-one public health problem in the nation is tobacco use. The ACS argues that American teens are smoking in greater numbers than at any time since the 1960s — in part as a result of alluring advertising and promotion by the tobacco industry. These targeted and sophisticated marketing techniques far outstrip existing regulatory checks on the tobacco industry. Once young American begin smoking or using smokeless tobacco products, evidence indicates they find it difficult to stop because of the addictive properties of the drug nicotine.

'The American Cancer Society is committed to one goal—the prevention, control and elimination of cancer in our society," added Seffrin. "American Cancer Society-sponsored research has shown, undisputedly, that tobacco use is a major cause of cancer. Tobacco addiction among our children has become no less than a pediatric disease and a national epidemic brought about with full intent and malice by Big Tobacco."

According to news reports, the tobacco industry, which has argued for years that tobacco was not addictive or dangerous, now claims tobacco is too dangerous to regulate. The American Cancer Society believes the FDA has rightly concluded that nicotine is a drug; that it causes addiction; and that tobacco products are indeed drug delivery devices that must be appropriately regulated. The American Cancer Society believes the FDA's initiative to restrict the advertising and sale of tobacco products to minors is firmly grounded in the law and is essential to protecting the health of America's children.

The American Cancer Society is the nationwide community-based voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy and service. For information about cancer, call toll-free anytime 1-800-ACS-2345

For more information, or to contact American Cancer Society, see their website at: www.cancer.org