A new study in the Journal of Adolescent Health caught my attention this morning with some staggering statistics about tobacco use among our nation's youth. The bottom line: far too many children are using flavored tobacco products.
But thanks to the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, which Congress passed in 2009, the FDA now has regulatory authority over the tobacco industry, reining in its misleading marketing of its deadly products. The law included a ban on terms such as light, mild and low tar from tobacco packaging and marketing. Unfortunately, a new study I came across today documents how the tobacco industry is using deceptive tactics to sidestep this ban.