All I can say is wow!
Excerpt:
The Trump administration on Monday proposed creating a new federal
agency to regulate tobacco products while removing that authority from
the Food and Drug Administration (FDA.)
The White House's budget
request for the upcoming fiscal year proposes making the Center for
Tobacco Products independent of the FDA, with a director to be confirmed
by the Senate.
"A new agency with the singular mission on
tobacco and its impact on public health would have greater capacity to
respond strategically to the growing complexity of new tobacco
products," the budget request reads.
"In addition, this
reorganization would allow the FDA Commissioner to focus on its
traditional mission of ensuring the safety of the Nation’s food and
medical products supply," it continues.
The FDA regulates tobacco
products, including cigarettes and e-cigarettes, as well as
prescription and over-the-counter drugs, food, dietary supplements,
vaccines, medical devices and more.
The new agency would still be under the purview of the Department of Health and Human Services. The president's budget request
is just a proposal and is unlikely to pass Congress in its current
form. The idea of removing tobacco regulation authority, which was
granted to the FDA in a 2009 law passed by Congress, from the agency
does not have broad support among lawmakers.
Joe Grogan, head of
the White House Domestic Policy Council, lamented last year to reporters
that tobacco regulation was a "huge waste of time" for the FDA.
"Tobacco has no redeeming qualities and it should not be regulated by a health agency like this," Grogan said last year.
Tobacco regulation is a "huge distraction" for the FDA, he added.
Former
FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb pushed back at the time, tweeting that
tobacco regulation is one of the agency's "most important public health
missions."
“The regulation of tobacco products was one of the
most productive uses of my time as FDA Commissioner,” Gottlieb said in a
tweet.
The FDA has cracked down on the e-cigarette and tobacco
industry in the past year, banning the sale of flavored products it
argues are fueling a youth vaping "epidemic." But anti-tobacco advocates
argued the Trump administration did not go far enough, leaving
thousands of products on the market that could appeal to kids, including
single-use, disposable e-cigarettes.
Free-market groups and
conservatives have also been critical of the FDA's actions, arguing that
banning flavors is harmful for adults who use e-cigarettes to switch
from traditional cigarettes.
Anti-tobacco advocates on Monday warned against taking tobacco control authority away from the FDA.
