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FDA will not regulate tobacco as addictive drug

By Elizabeth Neuse

State Press

The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the Food and Drug Administration cannot regulate tobacco as an addictive drug.

Mary Rimza, director of ASU Student Health, fears that taking jurisdiction of tobacco away from the FDA will pull the issue out of the health arena where it belongs placing it solely in the hands of Congress, where it will be handled as a political issue.

"I'm concerned that this will be a setback in regulating advertising," Rimza said.

She said she doesn't want to see the work that was put into creating restrictions, such as banning cigarette vending machines, go to waste.

"Hopefully with tobacco education campaigns, more young people will see that it's not good to be smoking," Rimza said.

The ruling, favored 5-4 by the Supreme Court justices directly rejects the main goal of Clinton's anti-smoking initiative, which included placing high taxes on tobacco.

The court ruling could also mean that age requirements and other restrictions on purchasing and use could be repealed.

In April 1994 executives of seven U.S. tobacco companies gave congressional testimonies swearing that nicotine is not addictive, according to the Associated Press.

That is part of the reason the Court ruled that tobacco cannot be regulated as such.

Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor voted in favor of deregulation.

"By no means do we question the seriousness of the problem that the FDA has sought to address," O'Connor said in a statement. "The agency has amply demonstrated that tobacco use, particularly among children and adolescents, poses perhaps the single most significant threat to public health in the United States."

However serious the threat, O'Conner said, "It's plain that Congress has not given the FDA the authority it seeks."

Rimza said that even if changes are made to loosen restrictions on tobacco, the health center plans to continue educating students about the dangers of tobacco use.

Elizabeth Neuse can be reached by e-mail at elizabeth.neuse@asu.edu.