Researchers call for more tobacco regulation

Smoking
U of M researchers and other experts say the FDA should regulate all tobacco products.
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More than two dozen national tobacco researchers are calling on the government to regulate all tobacco products. The group of government and university researchers has released a blueprint for reducing death and disease from tobacco use. The blueprint is published in the journal Tobacco Control.

In addition to more regulatory control of tobacco products, the group is urging policies that encourage tobacco users to switch from cigarettes to less harmful nicotine containing products.

They also want more regulation of tobacco industry advertising. Researchers say implied or direct claims that tobacco products containing fewer chemicals are less likely to cause cancer have not been scientifically substantiated.

The two-year project was led by a University of Minnesota researcher and a former FDA official.