BREATHE LA Board Member Speaks Up on Tobacco

First 5 LA Monday Morning Report
June 15, 2009
The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act
The use of cigarettes and cigars contribute to significant percentages of pre-term births, has been linked to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, and is a significant factor in the development of asthma and other problematic chronic respiratory conditions among children.

Siegel said, "The health groups supporting the legislation have been seduced by the few concessions that Philip Morris dangled before them and have lost sight of the long-term damage that this bill will do to the public's health." First 5 LA's Director of Research, Armando Jimenez shares this concern. "It should be noted that although the general intent of this bill is conceptually promising, the legislative language has some very troubling dimensions," said Jimenez said.

In a new attempt to slow the devastating effects of tobacco consumption, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Act, HR 1108, was introduced last year by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Beverly Hills) and passed through the House of Representatives in this past April. A companion bill, S. 625, was recently introduced by Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Massachusetts), and was approved by the Senate last Thursday. It is currently awaiting the president's signature.

These two pieces of legislation give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority to regulate tobacco products under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Elements of the bill include allowing the FDA to:

Stop the marketing of tobacco products to minors.
Prevent false health claims about tobacco.
Require tobacco companies to disclose all ingredients in their tobacco products.
Require tobacco companies to reduce harmful ingredients in their tobacco products.
Change the health warnings on tobacco products.
A recent Los Angeles Times opinion article [1] blasted the bill for being a 'smoke screen' for big tobacco itself. "The bill in question was crafted, in part, by the nation's leading cigarette company, Philip Morris, as part of a deal worked out between the tobacco giant and an anti-smoking group -- the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids," wrote Michael Siegel, a Boston University professor who specializes in tobacco policy analysis.

Siegel also points out another questionable part of the legislation - the suggested reduction of nicotine. Research shows that when nicotine levels in cigarettes are reduced, smokers inhale more deeply and smoke more cigarettes in order to maintain their daily nicotine dosage which is a phenomenon known as compensation. "The catch is that because of compensation, low-nicotine cigarettes end up delivering a greater dose of tar. This leads to an increase, not a decrease, in the risk of cancer and lung disease," said Seigel said.

BREATHE LA [2], a local advocacy organization aimed at increasing lung health and clean air in L.A. County, however supports the legislation. "We are among more than 1,018 organizations that have come out in favor of it," said Dr. Guy Soo Hoo, the director of the medical intensive care unit, pulmonary and critical care section at the V.A. Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System and a Breathe LA board member.

Dr. Soo Hoo acknowledged the perception that having Philip Morris as part of the bill's development could imply a conflict of interest. And, Dr. Soo Hoo argued this could be a ploy on the part of Big Tobacco to confuse likely supporters so they do not support the bill. "What people don't realize is the smoking rate in the U.S. is half of what it was 40 years ago, we are now left with few options to reduce this rate further."

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