Smoking is injurious to health. This is something that all of us grew up reading in textbooks, in disclaimers before movies or music videos, and even hearing from our parents and well-wishers. The United States government passed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act in the year 2009, to restrict the manufacture, production, and distribution of tobacco products.
The Food and Drug Administration Authority of the government of the United States is responsible for the implementation of the provisions under this Act.
As can be well understood from its name, the Tobacco Act aims to spread awareness among the masses about the fatal effects of tobacco consumption. The provisions of the Act govern specific areas. They will be discussed in detail in the article below.
The Tobacco Control Act: Restricts Tobacco Sales To Youth
The youth are considered to be the flag bearers of the nation. Tobacco, amongst other narcotic substances, has been researched to be one of the primary causes of cancer in the masses.
Consumption or smoking of tobacco leaves has been linked to the increase of free radicals in the system.
The Tobacco Control Act provides a few measures to regulate and minimize the marketing of tobacco products to youth and children.
It states that,
- The sale of tobacco products is banned by federal law.
- Vending machines in schools, colleges, and other institutions frequented by the youth and children have been prohibited by this Act.
- Tobacco brands, however huge or small, have been completely banned from sponsoring sports or other cultural events. This has been done to prevent the spread of awareness among the masses, especially the young impressionable minds.
- Giveaways conducted by tobacco brands and other brand-related activities have been banned. Adult facilities have been exempted from this ban, although such events are hardly encouraged.
Warnings To Be Displayed On The Products
The Tobacco Act requires that tobacco brands have proper warnings on display stating the harmful effects of tobacco. Federal law requires that tobacco packets have clear and display warnings.
Chewing tobacco and snuff has been under much scrutiny. Companies try to pass these products off without much warning. They often try to exclude these, only using warnings for cigarettes.
The warnings can look somewhat like this:
- Tobacco causes cancer in the mouth, throat, and buccal cavity.
- Tobacco causes diseased gums and teeth.
- Any tobacco product is harmful to health.
- Smokeless tobacco is injurious to health as well.
The packaging of tobacco, be it for the purpose of smoking or chewing, should have warnings on both sides of the packaging, covering at least 30% of the packaging.
The warning statements should be covering at least 20% of the warning part.
The aim of the Tobacco Act is to spread awareness about the harmful effects on society.
No Modified Claims To Be Made By The Tobacco Company
Tobacco companies earlier used to make these claims where they stated that ‘mild’ and ‘light’ cigarettes are less harmful to the body.
Such modified risk claims are considered to be harmful to the people at large. People often get carried away by such claims, and they feel that the use of such ‘mild’ tobacco products might not be that harmful to their bodies.
Complete Disclosure
The Tobacco Act requires that complete disclosure of all contents used in the manufacture of the product be done. The consumer has every right to know about the products and the components that they are using.
Concealing the real ingredients from the consumer’s knowledge is considered to be illegal and harmful to their health.
FDA Inspection
All tobacco companies are required to grant access to their factory premises and other manufacturing units to the Food and Drug Authority department, at least every two years.
What Is Excluded From The Tobacco Act?
While the Tobacco Act sets up a plethora of rules and regulations, it does not make any provisions for the following.
- It states that one does not need to furnish a prescription or any binding document by a licensed professional in order to purchase any tobacco product.
- It does not require that the amount of nicotine used in tobacco products be zero.
- It does not lay down any rules that ban the face-to-face sale of any tobacco product.
- It does not ban any particular class of tobacco product.
It’s A Legal Wrap!
Although smoking and any other form of tobacco use can be considered extremely harmful to the human body, it does not give a government the authority to completely ban the production or the use of tobacco products.
What the lawmakers have successfully managed to do is ensure that at least children are kept safe from the harmful effects of tobacco. The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act has not been able to completely irradicate tobacco use among minors but has definitely had a lasting change ever since it was passed in June ‘09.
We hope you found the article informative!
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Susmita Sen has started his journey in the Digital Marketing field. She has more than 1 year of experience in SEO. She likes to share her thoughts for the Website’s achievement goal. She is so passionate about bright career in this ways. Susmita has interest about travelling, cooking in various dishes, reading books about human psychology, and listening to music.
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