Oct 19, 2009

Lawmakers question tobacco firms over ban on flavored cigarettes

Two members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee sent letters to two tobacco distributors regarding reports the companies were attempting to circumvent the Food and Drug Administration ban on the sale of certain flavored cigarettes.
Committee Chair Henry Waxman (D, Calif.) and Rep. Bart Stupak (D, Mich.) wrote Kretek International in Moorpark, Calif., and Cheyenne International in Grover, N.C., and addressed concerns that both companies had repackaged their flavored cigarettes as filtered or "little" cigars.
On Sept. 22, the FDA, under authority of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, banned sales of most flavored cigarettes.