Oregon Gazette Times:
Hooley supports banning flavored tobacco
Hooley supports banning flavored tobacco
By THERESA HOGUE
Gazette-Times reporter
FDA would regulate marketing, products
Last year, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco came out with a new product that had a distinctly girlish touch. The new brand of cigarettes is called “Camel No. 9.” Packaged in a pink-and-black box, the cigarettes are wrapped in pink foil. In some marketing campaigns, the cigarettes are accompanied by a little pink purse and some lip gloss, exactly the kind of thing a 14-year-old girl might fancy.
Dr. John Gotchall, a Corvallis pulmonary care specialist, said it’s clear that very young women are among the young people being targeted by the tobacco industry’s marketing. Gotchall, who is the medical director of the Corvallis Clinic’s critical care program, is opposed to the way tobacco companies target young people, and he’s taking his opposition to the top.
In January, Gotchall lobbied his representatives in Washington, D.C., to support a bill currently before Congress that would put tobacco sales under the control of the federal Food and Drug Administration.
“We’d like to elevate tobacco regulations to the current level we have for dog food,” Gotchall said, explaining that because of FDA restrictions, consumers know more about what goes into their pet food and toothpaste than what their cigarettes contain.
The bill, HR 1108: The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, would authorize the FDA to regulate tobacco products in a number of ways, from preventing misbranding or misleading labeling to restricting the ways in which tobacco is marketed to children.
The bill has passed a House subcommittee and is being considered today by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, where Oregon’s U.S. Rep. Darlene Hooley, a Democrat, is a member. Hooley said Tuesday that she supports the bill. She said she expects it to make it out of committee for a House floor vote.
“It’s a critical public health issue,” Hooley said. Tobacco-related disease is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, and lung cancer is the most common type of cancer to kill women.
Although smoking as a social habit continues to decline, Gotchall said that one way tobacco companies are trying to get younger people to try their products is with flavored cigarettes, cigars and smokeless tobacco. Some of these tobacco products are flavored to taste of lime, toffee, berry blend and cream.
The bill would prohibit cigarettes from containing these kind of flavors.
“A lot of this predatory activity is aimed toward children,” Gotchall said.
Hooley said it’s hard to conclude otherwise: “If you look at the packaging and the marketing (of flavored products), there is no way adults would smoke those.”
Dana Galle-Strowbridge, Corvallis School District tobacco prevention education coordinator, said there are plenty of examples locally of tobacco companies targeting young smokers. She said the most recent product aimed at the youth market is a smokeless, spitless chewing tobacco that originated in Scandinavia called “snus.” The new product is designed to be milder tasting and is often flavored to taste of mint, spice or the like.
“It makes it less abrasive to the body,” Galle-Strowbridge said, and therefore, more appealing to those who have never smoked or chewed before.
The Corvallis School District now offers anti-tobacco education at the fourth- and fifth-grade level, with additional programs at the middle and high school levels. By including games and other activities, Galle-Strowbridge tries to engage students and explain the roles of media and peer pressure, as well as the physiology of addiction.
Gotchall said that now that he has become aware of the marketing campaign toward youth, he’s noticed things such as tobacco ad placement. For instance, in convenience stores, cigarette ads are often attached to the sliding top on freezer cases containing ice cream bars.
“They’re very sneaky about it,” he said.
Hooley supports banning flavored tobacco
Hooley supports banning flavored tobacco
By THERESA HOGUE
Gazette-Times reporter
FDA would regulate marketing, products
Last year, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco came out with a new product that had a distinctly girlish touch. The new brand of cigarettes is called “Camel No. 9.” Packaged in a pink-and-black box, the cigarettes are wrapped in pink foil. In some marketing campaigns, the cigarettes are accompanied by a little pink purse and some lip gloss, exactly the kind of thing a 14-year-old girl might fancy.
Dr. John Gotchall, a Corvallis pulmonary care specialist, said it’s clear that very young women are among the young people being targeted by the tobacco industry’s marketing. Gotchall, who is the medical director of the Corvallis Clinic’s critical care program, is opposed to the way tobacco companies target young people, and he’s taking his opposition to the top.
In January, Gotchall lobbied his representatives in Washington, D.C., to support a bill currently before Congress that would put tobacco sales under the control of the federal Food and Drug Administration.
“We’d like to elevate tobacco regulations to the current level we have for dog food,” Gotchall said, explaining that because of FDA restrictions, consumers know more about what goes into their pet food and toothpaste than what their cigarettes contain.
The bill, HR 1108: The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, would authorize the FDA to regulate tobacco products in a number of ways, from preventing misbranding or misleading labeling to restricting the ways in which tobacco is marketed to children.
The bill has passed a House subcommittee and is being considered today by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, where Oregon’s U.S. Rep. Darlene Hooley, a Democrat, is a member. Hooley said Tuesday that she supports the bill. She said she expects it to make it out of committee for a House floor vote.
“It’s a critical public health issue,” Hooley said. Tobacco-related disease is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, and lung cancer is the most common type of cancer to kill women.
Although smoking as a social habit continues to decline, Gotchall said that one way tobacco companies are trying to get younger people to try their products is with flavored cigarettes, cigars and smokeless tobacco. Some of these tobacco products are flavored to taste of lime, toffee, berry blend and cream.
The bill would prohibit cigarettes from containing these kind of flavors.
“A lot of this predatory activity is aimed toward children,” Gotchall said.
Hooley said it’s hard to conclude otherwise: “If you look at the packaging and the marketing (of flavored products), there is no way adults would smoke those.”
Dana Galle-Strowbridge, Corvallis School District tobacco prevention education coordinator, said there are plenty of examples locally of tobacco companies targeting young smokers. She said the most recent product aimed at the youth market is a smokeless, spitless chewing tobacco that originated in Scandinavia called “snus.” The new product is designed to be milder tasting and is often flavored to taste of mint, spice or the like.
“It makes it less abrasive to the body,” Galle-Strowbridge said, and therefore, more appealing to those who have never smoked or chewed before.
The Corvallis School District now offers anti-tobacco education at the fourth- and fifth-grade level, with additional programs at the middle and high school levels. By including games and other activities, Galle-Strowbridge tries to engage students and explain the roles of media and peer pressure, as well as the physiology of addiction.
Gotchall said that now that he has become aware of the marketing campaign toward youth, he’s noticed things such as tobacco ad placement. For instance, in convenience stores, cigarette ads are often attached to the sliding top on freezer cases containing ice cream bars.
“They’re very sneaky about it,” he said.
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