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In a Feb. 4 letter to the U.S. House of Representatives, the coalition asked lawmakers to pass HR 2339, the Reversing the Youth Tobacco Epidemic Act of 2019.
If enacted, this bill would:
• Require FDA to implement the graphic health warnings for cigarette packages (which includes an oral cancer image) within 12 months.
• Extend the federal tobacco advertising and sales requirements to vaping devices and other types of nicotine products.
• Regulate vaping devices and other products covered by the Tobacco Control Act in the same manner as cigarettes and smokeless tobacco.
• Raise the minimum age for purchasing nontobacco nicotine products to 21.
• Prohibit non-face-to-face sales of all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes and e-cigarette accessories.
• Prohibit all characterizing flavors of tobacco products, including menthol.
“Tobacco use remains the leading preventable cause of death in the United States and is responsible for approximately $170 billion in health care costs each year,” the coalition wrote. “The Reversing the Youth Tobacco Epidemic Act provides a much-needed response to this serious public health problem.”
In December 2019, the ADA Board of Trustees adopted an interim policy directing the Association to “advocate for regulatory, legislative, and/or legal action at the federal and/or state levels to ban the sale and distribution of all e-cigarette and vaping products, with the exception of those approved by the FDA for tobacco cessation purposes and made available by prescription only.” It also calls on the ADA to advocate for research funding to study the safety and effectiveness of e-cigarettes and vaping products for tobacco cessation purposes and their effects on the oral cavity.
For more information on the ADA’s advocacy efforts, visit ADA.org/tobacco.