June 25, 2019

Wyden, Merkley Join Senators to Press FDA for Stronger Response to Teen Tobacco Use

Letter comes ahead of 10-year anniversary of the landmark Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act

Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley are urging the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to recognize the tenth anniversary of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act with action that protects children from dangerous new tobacco products.

In the letter addressed to Dr. Norman E. Sharpless, Acting FDA Commissioner, the senators urge the FDA to act quickly and do more to protect children from dangerous tobacco products, citing alarming statistics in a recent study from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showing a sharp uptick of youth tobacco use in recent years.

“We write to recognize the 10-year anniversary of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act and to urge proactive and expedient action to protect kids from dangerous tobacco products. This anniversary offers an important reminder of the serious threat posed to public health by tobacco and the need for strong action to make sure we protect kids from a dangerous new generation of tobacco products,” the senators wrote.

The letter was also signed by U.S. Sens. Patty Murray, D-Wash., Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Jack Reed, D-R.I., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Ed Markey, D-Mass., Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., Chris Coons, D-Del., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Dick Durbin, D-Ill. and Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev.

Full text of the letter available here.