Staff Reports
A rapidly swelling cadre of House Republicans is sounding the alarm on the Biden administration’s sluggish pace in allowing smoke-free tobacco products to hit the market. These red-blooded representatives are calling on President Joe Biden to fast-track the approval process for these cleaner tobacco alternatives through the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Led by the spirited Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC), nearly 70 House Republicans penned a fiery missive to President Biden, urging him to nudge forward the long-languishing applications for smoke-free products awaiting the FDA’s nod.
#EXCLUSIVE — House Republicans, led by @RepRichHudson, press FDA to expedite approval process for smoke-free tobacco products https://t.co/lAKN1RilvR https://t.co/lAKN1RilvR
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) March 12, 2024
The Republicans minced no words, casting a scornful glare at the FDA’s glacial slowness. They charged that the federal agency’s inaction not only shafts American smokers, preventing them from accessing diverse options but also fans the flames of contraband nicotine products flooding in from overseas markets, particularly China. These unbridled products, the Republicans warned, are surreptitiously designed to ensnare impressionable youngsters, a detriment to public health.
Citing an avalanche of over 26 million applications for smoke-free products lodged since the landmark Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009, the GOP letter underscored the exasperatingly puny 50 approvals to date. Worse still, only a meager less than 10 products have hit the commercial shelves, while countless others have idled for three interminable years awaiting FDA’s nod. Meanwhile, the FDA has waved through thousands of combustible product applications, exasperated Republicans fumed.
The Republicans, extracting marrow from scientific research, extolled the monumental potential of smoke-free products in helping current smokers kick the habit by pivoting to these less deleterious alternatives. They hammered home the urgency of streamlining the FDA’s review of smoke-free product applications, beseeching the administration to ground its determinations in unassailable science.
The missive, which swayed nearly 70 stalwart legislators, landed in the Oval Office shortly after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) clamored for a stricter leash on products like Zyn, decrying the insidious marketing of nicotine pouches to minors. His plea was met with vigorous Republican rebuke, who championed the product as a potential linchpin in fortifying public health, given its status as a “less harmful” nicotine ingress.
Acknowledging the snares of underage usage, the no-nonsense Republicans accentuated that adolescents should be ring-fenced from nicotine-delivering products and shielded from their pernicious marketing or advertising. Nevertheless, they waggled their fingers at Congress, cautioning that the gateway should not slam shut on products that have lionized their effectiveness in weaning smokers off their unyielding habit or curbing cigarette consumption.
With a spirited flourish, Rep. Hudson thundered, “Smoke-free products not only help people quit smoking, but they give Americans a choice.” He went on to lambaste the Biden FDA, painting its dispiriting drudgery in processing millions of applications for alternative products and its anemic yield in approvals. The riled-up congressman dismissed the FDA’s dalliance as rank politicking and demanded expedited approvals to proffer more options to beleaguered Americans.
The Biden administration, no stranger to scorching criticism of its tobacco policy, recently ignited a firestorm by hanging the specter of a menthol cigarette ban over the industry. Lawmakers and advocacy groups took umbrage at the proposal, prophesying a surge in illicit sales and an erratic enforcement shtick.
Numbering at least 58, the congressional coterie, bristling under the stewardship of Reps. Brett Guthrie (R-KY) and Morgan Griffith (R-VA), added their imprimatur to the damning letter, passionately beseeching President Biden to untangle the smoke-free product red tape. The hallowed halls at the White House remained mum, failing to muster a rejoinder to the fervent entreaty.
In this tumultuous crescendo, House Republicans have pumped the brakes on what they view as the Biden administration’s glacial handling of smoke-free tobacco products, pushing for President Biden to fast-track their approvals. The ball is now firmly in the Biden court, as the stage is set for a scintillating showdown between the executive and legislative branches on the urgency of expanding tobacco options for Americans.
