Tag: Tobacco

Washington, USA- January13, 2020: FDA Sign outside their headquarters in Washington. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or USFDA) is a federal agency of the USA.

Mushroom Monographs? The FDA’s Potential Role in a Legal Recreational Drug Market

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By Jonathan Perez-Reyzin

Within the psychedelic legal landscape, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plays a central role — it is the regulatory mechanism by which drugs like MDMA and psilocybin may soon become legal for medical use.

But for many working in drug policy, medicalization is not the exclusive goal. Indeed, there have been calls for legalization of psychedelics for non-medical use — and we are seeing an early attempt at such a model in Oregon.

These efforts are not yet reaching the federal level, but it’s only a matter of time before the legalization of psychedelics and other currently illegal drugs for adult recreational use becomes a federal question, as is already occurring with marijuana. And despite the FDA’s widely recognized role in medicine, few have considered the role the FDA would play in a federal regulatory regime for the non-medical use of drugs, even though it already does regulate at least one recreational substance legal for recreational use: tobacco.

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Cigarettes.

Tobacco Issues Awaiting Robert Califf at the FDA

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By Cathy Zhang

Yesterday, the Senate confirmed Dr. Robert Califf for his second, non-consecutive term as Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), bringing a drawn out and contentious process to a close. Califf will be the second-ever FDA Commissioner to serve non-consecutive terms, and the first to have been confirmed by the Senate on two separate occasions.

Prior to his first term as Commissioner during the Obama administration, Califf, a cardiologist, served as the FDA’s Deputy Commissioner for Medical Products and Tobacco.

In addition to fielding scrutiny over mifepristone access, reviewing opioid regulations, and handling COVID-19 vaccine and treatment approvals in the midst of a pandemic, Califf will be overseeing the FDA at a time when public health advocates are anticipating agency action on several tobacco issues.

Two major developments expected in this area include a menthol ban and greater regulation of e-cigarettes.

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Person smoking cigarette.

Graphic Warnings on Cigarettes: Public Health vs. Corporate Speech

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By Laura Karas

The latest attempt of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to make a dent in the country’s intractable tobacco problem is a set of color graphic warnings that will appear on cigarette packages and advertisements beginning in June of 2021.

The legal battle surrounding the graphic warnings and other attempts to regulate commercial speech in the food and drug context illustrate the courts’ enduring failure to appreciate the full extent and substantiality of the government’s interest in promoting public health.

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Several vaping devices on a table

E-Cigarette Laws that Work for Everyone

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By Daniel Aaron

The Trump Administration has retreated from proposed tobacco regulations that experts generally agree would benefit public health. The regulations would have included a ban on flavored e-cigarettes, a favorite of children who use e-cigarettes. Currently millions of youth are estimated to be addicted to e-cigarettes.

The rules also could have reduced nicotine in cigarettes to non-addictive levels. Nicotine is the addicting substance largely responsible for continued smoking. If nicotine were “decoupled” from smoking, smokers might turn to other sources of nicotine, rather than continuing to smoke. Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S., killing about 500,000 Americans each year, or just about the number of Americans who died in World War I and World War II combined.

Part of the difficulty in regulating e-cigarettes is that, unlike cigarettes, they offer benefits and harms that differ across generations. This concern is called intergenerational equity. How can a solution be crafted that serves all Americans?

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