Cigarette companies suffer from FDA’s merciless control
In Richmond, Virginia (VA) Judge Richard Leon ruled that newer warning labels have become too graphic and should not be required. It has been scientifically proven that cigarettes are a cause of cancer, but when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decided that cigarette packs should come with a picture of a dead person and/or the lungs of a cancer patient, they went too far.
The FDA’s legitimate reason for their complete takeover of the tobacco industry is that minors should not smoke, which is good, but when they handicap the tobacco industry in ways that only affect business, it is unethical. Along with the hundreds of no drugs/no smoking commercials, the FDA feels the need to restrict the tobacco business even more than they already have. According to the FDA’s website, tobacco companies cannot sell cigarette packages with less than 20 cigarettes, put tobacco products in vending machines and self service stations, sponsor any sort of respectable person or group, offer gift and prizes for the purchase of tobacco and sell clothing with tobacco brands on them. The only kind of advertisement that tobacco companies are allowed to use can only include music-free audio without any sort of sound effect.
Other than the restriction about anti-underage smoking, the rules/restrictions that the tobacco industry has to follow are unfair and are aimed to ruin business rather than save kids. It took over a year for a district judge in VA to recognize the excessive rules from the FDA not only ruin the tobacco industry’s business but also violates their rights. According to the first amendment, Americans have the right to freedom of speech, a freedom that the FDA took from tobacco companies when they forbade tobacco promotion in most ways and when they forcefully added graphic warning labels to cigarette packages. The only legal reason to go against an amendment is to protect Americans, but the FDA took advantage of this rule and used the government advantage to totally control the tobacco industry.
The FDA’s graphic warning labels also included the phone number “1-800-QUIT-NOW” which seems to be more of a ‘stop all smoking’ tactic rather than ‘stop underage smoking’ tactic. The FDA seems to be only putting a bunch of restrictions on the tobacco industry, the FDA does not have these warnings on beer, do they? Alcohol causes liver problems, is addictive to some and it may not harm one person as much, but when car crashes with drunk drivers occur much more frequently and can harm/kill people a lot quicker.
Tobacco products may be deadly but under our rights as an American, people have the right to make their own choices and they should not all be babied with these rules doing much more protecting than they need. Judge Leon was the first government official to recognize the fact that the FDA is abusing its power, which effects business illegally and unfairly.
