Op-Ed Adopted from Reuters online Blog- Posted July 11, 2012 By Margaret Hamburg

FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg

In passing the Tobacco Control Act, Congress recognized that the linchpin of any successful strategy to reduce adult tobacco use must be to prevent young people from ever starting. More than 80 percent of adult U.S. smokers begin smoking as teens. Each day more than 3,800 young people under age 18 smoke their first cigarette, and more than 1,000 become daily cigarette smokers. Reversing this trend requires aggressive action on two fronts: reducing the attractiveness of tobacco products to children and ending their access to them. That's exactly what the FDA is doing.

During our first 12 months of regulating tobacco, the FDA pulled candy and certain other flavored cigarettes off the market; issued tough new regulations to halt sales of cigarettes, cigarette tobacco, and smokeless tobacco to young people; banned brand-name sponsorship of sporting events and concerts; and implemented requirements for new warning labels for smokeless tobacco products. The FDA also has begun funding state authorities to assure vigorous enforcement of these new actions to protect our children.

The FDA's efforts haven't just focused on young people. We're working to make sure all Americans, young and old, understand the true dangers of tobacco use. That's why the FDA is enforcing the prohibition on misleading labeling and advertising claims, and why, for the first time, tobacco companies are required to report the quantities of harmful or potentially harmful chemicals in the products they make.

The FDA also is requiring graphic health warnings on cigarette packages and ads. Although a lawsuit by tobacco companies has halted implementation of the warning requirements, FDA will continue to fight to keep them so the United States, like dozens of other countries around the globe, can use this effective way to communicate the dangers of smoking to consumers.

Turning back the tide of suffering and death caused by tobacco use won't be easy.

Today, FDA researchers are beginning to unravel the mysteries of tobacco use and addiction, including the possibilities of reducing the dangers and addictiveness of tobacco products. FDA scientists also are exploring the full spectrum of health consequences of tobacco use and how best to communicate those dangers to the public. Working with other federal agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health, we will meet those challenges.

Much has been done since that day three years ago when the Tobacco Control Act was signed into law by the president in the White House Rose Garden. To the FDA, these achievements represent a solid foundation to build on. I have never been more confident that, together, we can make tobacco-related death and disease part of America's past, and not America's future.

For more information on the Family Smoking Prevention and Control Act, please visit:

http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/PublicHealthFocus/ucm168412.htm 

To view the Op-Ed, please visit:  

http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2012/07/11/protecting-americans-from-tobaccos-damage/?source=govdelivery  

President Obama on Monday signed the bipartisan Food and Drug Administration bill that Congress approved last month.

Obama signed the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act, which reauthorizes user fees that the FDA collects from the drug and medical-device industries. The fees must be reauthorized every five years.

It also creates a new fee for companies that sell generic drugs, and it makes several changes to FDA policy, mostly geared toward speeding the approval of potentially life-savings products and bolstering the agency's oversight of safety issues.

Both the House and Senate moved the FDA legislation quickly and with broad bipartisan support.

Lawmakers met their goal of sending the bill to Obama's desk before the July 4 recess - and before the Supreme Court's healthcare decision, which could have dragged the FDA bill into a morass of symbolic amendments.

The FDA bill modifies part of Obama's healthcare law by filling out the detauls a user fee program for the drug class known as biosimilars - comparable to generic versions of complex drugs known as biologics.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius praised the bipartisan effort as Obama signed the legislation Monday.

"S. 3187 is the culmination of the work of the administration and Congress, in partnership with patients, the pharmaceutical and medical device industries, the clinical community, and other stakeholders, to provide the Food and Drug Administration with the tools needed to continue to bring drugs and devices to market safely and quickly and promote innovation in the biomedical industry, and to help secure the jobs supported by drug and device development," she said in a statement.   

 Are kids really using this stuff? The answer is yes.

Percentage of U.S. 12th Grade Students Reporting Past Year Use of Drugs*
Other Than Alcohol and Tobacco, 2011

*Amphetamines include Adderall® (6.5%), Ritalin® (2.6%), Provigil (1.5%), methamphetamine (1.4%), and crystal methamphetamine (1.2%). Hallucinogens include salvia (5.9%), ecstasy (5.3%), LSD (2.7%), and PCP (1.3%). Other narcotic drugs used nonmedically include Vicodin® (8.1%) and Oxycontin® (4.9%). OTC Cough/Cold refers to use for the explicit purpose of getting high. Drugs with less than 2% prevalence were ketamine (1.7%), GHB (1.4%), Rohypnol® (1.3%), steroids (1.2%), and heroin (0.8%). SOURCE: Adapted by CESAR from National Institute of Drug Abuse, Monitoring the Future: National Results on Adolescent Drug Use, 2011. Available online at http://www.monitoringthefuture.org/pubs/monographs/mtf-overview2011.pdf.

Toolkits for Parents to Prevent Synthetic Drug Use:

(Provided by the Office of National Drug Control Policy Director Gil Kerlikowske)

As part of ongoing efforts to coordinate the Federal response to the drug threat, in February, the ONDCP joined The Partnership at Drugfree.org to introduce a kit for parents and adult influencers housing the tools they need to talk with their teens about this emerging threat and recognize the warning signs of use. The information kit includes a slidecast about synthetic drugs, a corresponding podcast and video, and a printable guide so parents can present details on what to look for, what the street names are and what the effects of these substances are to others in their community.  It is available at The Partnership at Drugfree.org website and is part of a "Parents360" community education program funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance.  

All are welcome to attend! For more information regarding the Coos County Coalition or the Littleton ATOD Task Force, please contact Diana Gibbs at 259-3700 or at dgibbs@nchcnh.org.