Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 123.djvu/1797

 123STA T . 1 7 77 PUBLIC LA W 111 – 31 —J U NE 22, 2 0 0 9(1)Theus e oft o bac co pr o d ucts b y the N at i o n’ s chi l dren is a pediatric disease of considerable proportions that results in ne wg enerations of tobacco - dependent children and adults . ( 2 ) A consensus e x ists within the scientific and m edical communities that tobacco products are inherently dangerous and cause cancer , heart disease, and other serious ad v erse health effects. ( 3 ) Nicotine is an addictive drug. ( 4 ) V irtually all new users of tobacco products are under the minimum legal age to purchase such products. ( 5 ) Tobacco advertising and mar k eting contribute signifi- cantly to the use of nicotine-containing tobacco products by adolescents. ( 6 ) B ecause past efforts to restrict advertising and mar- keting of tobacco products have failed ade q uately to curb tobacco use by adolescents, comprehensive restrictions on the sale, promotion, and distribution of such products are needed. ( 7 ) F ederal and S tate governments have lacked the legal and regulatory authority and resources they need to address comprehensively the public health and societal problems caused by the use of tobacco products. ( 8 ) Federal and State public health officials, the public health community, and the public at large recogni z e that the tobacco industry should be sub j ect to ongoing oversight. ( 9 ) U nder article I , section 8 of the C onstitution, the Con- gress is vested with the responsibility for regulating interstate commerce and commerce with Indian tribes. (1 0 ) The sale, distribution, marketing, advertising, and use of tobacco products are activities in and substantially affecting interstate commerce because they are sold, marketed, adver- tised, and distributed in interstate commerce on a nationwide basis, and have a substantial effect on the Nation’s economy. (11) The sale, distribution, marketing, advertising, and use of such products substantially affect interstate commerce through the health care and other costs attributable to the use of tobacco products. (12) It is in the public interest for Congress to enact legisla- tion that provides the Food and D rug Administration with the authority to regulate tobacco products and the advertising and promotion of such products. The benefits to the American people from enacting such legislation would be significant in human and economic terms. (13) Tobacco use is the foremost preventable cause of pre- mature death in America. It causes over 400,000 deaths in the United States each year, and approximately 8,600,000 Americans have chronic illnesses related to smoking. (14) R educing the use of tobacco by minors by 50 percent would prevent well over 10,000,000 of today’s children from becoming regular, daily smokers, saving over 3,000,000 of them from premature death due to tobacco-induced disease. Such a reduction in youth smoking would also result in approxi- mately $ 75,000,000,000 in savings attributable to reduced health care costs. (15) Advertising, marketing, and promotion of tobacco prod- ucts have been especially directed to attract young persons to use tobacco products, and these efforts have resulted in increased use of such products by youth. P ast efforts to oversee