Smokefree DC » FDA http://www.smokefreedc.org Smokefree air for Washington DC workers Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:23:40 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 FDA rolls out cigarette warning labels; one highlights effects on nonsmokers http://www.smokefreedc.org/2010/11/fda-rolls-out-cigarette-warning-labels-one-highlights-effects-on-nonsmokers/ http://www.smokefreedc.org/2010/11/fda-rolls-out-cigarette-warning-labels-one-highlights-effects-on-nonsmokers/#comments Thu, 11 Nov 2010 04:30:25 +0000 Angela Bradbery http://www.smokefreedc.org/?p=297 The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has unveiled proposed warning labels for cigarette packs – a result of a law Congress passed last year that gives the agency regulatory authority over tobacco (the Tobacco Control Act). Specifically, the law requires nine new warning labels to be put on tobacco products along with color graphics [...]]]> Text: WARNING: Tobacco smoke causes fatal lung disease in nonsmokers. Image: Man blowing smoke toward woman’s face. Woman holding her hand over mouth and nose. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has unveiled proposed warning labels for cigarette packs – a result of a law Congress passed last year that gives the agency regulatory authority over tobacco (the Tobacco Control Act). Specifically, the law requires nine new warning labels to be put on tobacco products along with color graphics that depict the negative health effects of smoking.

The great news is that one of the warning labels focuses on the effects of secondhand smoke on nonsmokers. As we all know, secondhand smoke causes lung cancer and heart disease in nonsmokers, and aggravates respiratory conditions like asthma and bronchitis.

“Tobacco smoke causes fatal disease in nonsmokers,” the label reads. The FDA is considering five design options for the label. Personally, I like #3A and #4A.

What do you like? Let the FDA know. The agency is taking feedback on the colors, the graphics, the fonts and the overall design. Click here and go to  to page 2 to find out how you can submit comments to the agency. Your options are to submit comments online, fax them in or send them by snail mail.

Let’s hope that these will help make smokers more aware that when they smoke, they spew poisonous gases into the air, which the nonsmokers around them generally don’t appreciate and don’t particularly want to breathe.

]]> http://www.smokefreedc.org/2010/11/fda-rolls-out-cigarette-warning-labels-one-highlights-effects-on-nonsmokers/feed/ 0 Judge thwarts FDA’s attempt to block electronic cigarettes http://www.smokefreedc.org/2010/01/judge-thwarts-fdas-attempt-to-block-electronic-cigarettes/ http://www.smokefreedc.org/2010/01/judge-thwarts-fdas-attempt-to-block-electronic-cigarettes/#comments Wed, 20 Jan 2010 00:11:11 +0000 Angela Bradbery http://www.smokefreedc.org/?p=90 Now that we have a new administration, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is finally getting serious about protecting the public health. Most recently, the agency has tried to block electronic cigarettes coming from China. The jury is still out on their safety.

Unfortunately, a judge has disrupted the FDA’s efforts. Last week, as reported in [...]]]> Now that we have a new administration, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is finally getting serious about protecting the public health. Most recently, the agency has tried to block electronic cigarettes coming from China. The jury is still out on their safety.

Unfortunately, a judge has disrupted the FDA’s efforts. Last week, as reported in The New York Times and other media, a federal judge said the agency can’t stop the e-cigarettes from coming in, and that they should be regulated as tobacco products instead of drugs or medical devices.

Matt Myers of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids made some good points in the story, saying that the judge ignored a common-sense distinction the FDA makes between tobacco products and non-tobacco products that have nicotine in them, like lollipops and water. Unfortunately, he also said that e-cigarettes provide an alternative to smoking in smokefree places.

Whoa. Hold on there. We don’t accept that. It’s still unclear whether the chemicals in the vapor emitted from electronic cigarettes is harmful. Plus, there is the confusion factor – a smoker with a real cigarette may see the smoker with the e-cigarette across the restaurant or bar and figure it’s okay to light up. That would burden employees at bars and restaurants with unnecessary enforcement responsibilities.

It’s not at all clear that these things can be used in smokefree spaces. Hopefully our friends at TFK will back off that notion.

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